Rental Agreements

ORS 90.510(4) provides:

Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide a written rental agreement, except as provided by ORS 90.710 (Causes of action)(2)(d). The agreement must be signed by the landlord and tenant and may not be unilaterally amended by one of the parties to the contract except by:

1. Mutual agreement of the parties;

1. Actions taken pursuant to ORS 90.530 (Pets in facilities), 90.533 (Conversion of billing method for garbage collection and disposal), 90.537 (Conversion of billing method for utility or service charges), 90.543 (Utility or service charge billing for large manufactured dwelling parks) (3), 90.600 (Increases in rent), 90.725 (Landlord or agent access to rented space) (3)(f) and (7) or 90.727 (Maintenance of trees in rented spaces); or

1. Those provisions required by changes in statute or ordinance. (Emphasis added.)

In a recent Oregon Court of Appeals case, the full impact of these "unilateral" amendment provisions became the subject of scrutiny that (unless appealed and overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court) should serve as a cautionary warning for park owners and managers.

Oregon landlord-tenant law is complicated.  And mistakes in understanding the law frequently work against landlords.  The basic rule-of-thumb to remember is that the written document which defines the landlord-tenant relationship must be complete and must be followed.  While Oregon law does contain some restrictions upon what landlords can put into their rental agreements,[1] generally, they are far better off commencing the rental relationship with a strong, clear and fair written document. MHCO has gone to great lengths in making sure that its forms meet these criteria.  What follows is a list of ten tips and traps to remember when using the MHCO Rental Agreement form.

Question.  What is the difference between the enforceability of our rules vs our rental agreement? What if they conflict?

Question: Over the years Oregon rental laws change. When should I update my rental agreement to reflect those changes? Can I change my “Statement of Policy”? What about the community rules and regulations?

Question: Are there any new laws affecting RV rental spaces that we need to know about?

Question: Can our park use the regular MHCO manufactured home rental agreement for RV tenants who are allowed in certain spaces throughout our manufactured home park?