Study of the linear and nonlinear magnetic responses as well as electron spin resonance (ESR) is presented for insulating La 0.88 MnO 2.91 with TC≈216K. According to the data on the second harmonic of magnetization (M 2 ), this compound exhibits an unconventional paramagnet to ferromagnet (PF) phase transition. A critical behavior of the system is found to agree with a prediction for a 3D isotropic ferromagnet in the P-region above T*≈247K. Below T*, an anomalous phase develops whose properties differ radically from those of a magnet exhibiting an usual PF transition. This phase originates in a ferromagnetically ordered state and reveals a strong nonlinear behavior in the weak fields. The ESR data, which are obtained in the essentially higher field and frequency than those in the M 2 measurements, agree with the conventional critical behavior above 225K, indicating a strong suppression of the anomalous response by the field. These peculiarities are close to those found in the usually doped Nd 1− x Ba x MnO 3 (x=0.23, 0.25) manganites. It supports an assumption on universal character of this phenomenon, namely, formation of a heterogeneous magnetic state with the coexistence of the anomalous and traditional phases. Since this compound is near a border of a metal to insulator transition, the anomalous phase is assumed to exhibit a ferromagnetic metallic state whereas the traditional one is a ferromagnetic insulator. Formation of this nontrivial state is attributed to a strong coupling of the orbital, Jahn–Teller phonons and charge degrees of freedom with the magnetic ones.