Question: Our county has entered Phase 2 of the reopening procedures for COVID-19. While we have kept the park restrooms, showers and laundry room open during the state-wide shutdown, we have kept other park facilities closed. We are still reluctant to open our swimming pool, small indoor rec center, and playground. What are we required to open and how do we safely do it?
Question: We have residents in our RV park who seem to be blatantly violating the governor’s COVID-19 emergency stay-at-home order. Some residents have outside family members or guests come by regularly, while a few other residents get together on their spaces to just “hang out” in the evenings. This has caused some concern in the park, so what can or should we do?
Question: We had a month-to-month RV tenant vacate shortly after she paid her monthly rent, and she is now demanding a refund of “unused” rent from the vacate date forward. Do we have to refund that rent?
Question: We want to raise rent for our RV tenants because we have not raised the rent in over two years. We know there are new rules, but what are they?
SB 586 was developed by the Manufactured Housing Landlord/Tenant Coalition during 19 meetings (each of approximately 3 hours) from September 2017 through February, 2019. There are several pieces to SB 586; however, this Q&A focuses on the limited mandatory mediation policy together with the $100,000 annual grant the Legislature has authorized be allocated to the Oregon Law Center to assist manufactured and floating home tenants with understanding and enforcing the Oregon Residential and Landlord Tenant Act.
As was reported by Chuck Carpenter during the Legislative session, the goal from MHCO’s perspective, was to use the coalition to get the best possible result considering the political landscape in the Legislature. Bluntly, some of the original ideas proposed by the tenants in the coalition were quite onerous. The end result, however, is a true compromise that is favorable to MHCO landlords, all things considered.
If you would like to learn more about these issues and/or you have particular questions, please join me for my presentation at the 2019 Annual Conference in October. In the meantime here are 17 questions (10 uploaded today and the remaining 7 to be uploaded next week) and answers that will get you started.
The 2019 Oregon Legislature made sweeping changes to the state’s landlord-tenant laws. None will have more impact than Senate Bill 608 (SB 608), which went into effect on February 28, 2019. SB 608 made two significant alterations to Oregon law: (1) After the first year of occupancy in a month-to-month or fixed-term tenancy, landlords are severely limited in their ability to evict tenants, and (2) landlords with month-to-month or fixed-term tenancies are now limited by rent control in their ability to increase rent for an existing tenancy. (NOTE: The cities of Portland, Milwaukie, and Bend have additional restrictions on landlords, and different laws apply to manufactured home and floating home tenants.)
Question: One of the residents in our RV park is ALWAYS late with the rent. The rent is paid every month, but it is always late. We know RVs aren't covered by the "three strikes" rent nonpayment law that applies to manufactured home tenants. Do we have any recourse to evict this tenant?
The objective of most mobile home and recreational vehicle park owners is to earn money. However, certain things, when not done diligently, can cost park owners and operators money. Title issues may not seem like a "sexy" issue or concern, but title problems can impact park operations. While parks are not in the business of "monitoring" title, there are at least three scenarios as outlined below that can impede the park's business if neglected. First, it is important to follow through on the transferring of title of a mobile home sold by a resident or third party to the mobile home park or vice versa. Similarly, the park needs to ensure that title is properly perfected in any sales within the park from an existing resident to a new resident. Finally, with respect to recreational vehicles specifically, it can be actual to obtain title paperwork before allowing such a recreational vehicle to remain in the park for an extended period of time.
The first key to successful park operations is perhaps self-evident: human resources. In simple terms, successful park operations depend on the people that your customers (park residents) interact with on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Taking the time to recruit personnel who are personable and help your operations run smoothly and efficiently is time-consuming. Effective and consistent recruiting take place both internally and externally. The watchword from industry experts is to "be slow to hire and fast to fire". That means take your time in interviewing and do background checks to be sure you have the person who will both enjoy the job and do the job properly. Mistakes in hiring are costly. Training takes time and money. If you've made a mistake, admit it and quickly terminate the relationship before it gets worse.
The recent scandal that is rocking Hollywood that has toppled the career of film producer, Harvey Weinstein, is reshaping the national discussion about Sexual Harassment at work. There is still a big gap between what should happen after such claims and what actually does happen.
The following is a brief overview of federal and state law as it pertains to sexual harassment claims that can be brought by employees, independent contractors, vendors, and members of the public against MHC owners and managers.
