Attorney

The following article is a discussion of the federal Fair Housing law governing 55+ communities.  The contents are not intended to constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon by the reader as such.  All legal questions regarding this complicated and important law should be directed to legal counsel familiar with the area.

The Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) went into effect on March 12, 1989.  That Act amended Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in the sale, rental, or financing of residential housing.  The FHAA added two additional protected classes; (1) persons with disabilities and (2) families with children.  Children include persons under the age of 18 years.

This article is informational only and is not intended as legal advice.  Always consult with a competent attorney before undertaking any legal action.

Unfortunately, it is not unusual to have someone simply pull into an empty RV space and refuse to pay or leave.  How does a landlord best deal with this situation?

Since there is no rental agreement and the landlord (presumably) has not accepted any rent or other payments, the person is technically a “squatter.”  Under Oregon law, a “squatter” means a person occupying a dwelling unit who is not so entitled under a rental agreement.  The “dwelling unit” in this case is the RV space.  Occupancy by a squatter is not governed by the usual landlord-tenant laws under ORS Chapter 90.

This article is informational only and is not intended as legal advice.  Always consult with a competent attorney before undertaking any legal action.

On January 1, 2024, Oregon House Bill 2634 went into effect.  HB 2634 contained some important changes to the laws governing RV parks and RV tenants.

First, HB 2634 cleared up an ambiguity regarding which landlord-tenant laws apply to RV tenants.  Even if an RV is located in a manufactured home park, the laws covering RV tenants are the same laws that cover tenants living in apartments, duplexes, single-family home

rentals, etc.  The specialized set of laws covering tenants who own their homes and rent spaces in manufactured home parks do NOT apply to RV tenants.

This article is general in nature and is not intended as legal advice for any specific issue that might arise, since every situation is different. Always consult a knowledgeable landlord attorney with your specific legal issues. 

A very recent court case highlights the ongoing importance of always conducting background checks on potential tenants.  This particular situation arose at an RV park when two overnight guests refused to vacate despite never being offered a rental agreement.  There were unusual circumstances that led to the situation, but the main point is to never let anyone become a tenant without running a thorough and accurate background report first.

Editor's Note:  In 2019 the Oregon Legislature made changes to mediation for Oregon Community owners and residents.  At the time time we published 17 Q&As for MHCO members by Bill Miner, Davis Wright Tremaine.  Here is a re-visit of an article published earlier.

One of the advantages of being a lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine, is we have lots of different lawyers with many different areas of expertise. To answer the questions below, I enlisted the help of my colleague Jim Oliver, who is a lawyer with substantial experience in the insurance industry. As with all of these articles, the following should not be construed as legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is created. If you have specific legal questions or concerns, please reach out to your attorney.

Question:  We have a couple living in a nice RV in our park on a month-to-month rental agreement.  They have been here for about two years, are retired, and have never had trouble paying the rent.  To make a long story short, we refused their rent earlier this year in January, February and March until we resolved a dispute with them regarding their dogs.  When we asked them to pay that rent, they refused because by then the statewide COVID-19 eviction moratorium had gone into effect.  Can we evict them for not paying pre-COVID rent that they still owe?

Question: Do the state and federal eviction moratoriums apply to RV tenants?  What about short-term guests who are not technically “tenants?”

Question:  A man has set up a tent on one of our park’s RV spaces, with lot of garbage around the space.  He did not sign any agreement – he just showed up one day.  How does the landlord best deal with this situation?

Question:  A month-to-month resident in our RV Park (on MHCO Form 80 - RV Agreement) is causing numerous problems for other RV residents.  In one case he was verbally abusive to several children – a restraining order was issued and subsequently violated.  What options do we have as the landlord to evict this tenant?