Skip to main content

MHCO Article Topics

MHCO Legal Counsel

Phil Querin Q&A: Home Reseller Paying Fees to Employees of Another Company

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: I cannot find any law precisely on point, so will have to "reason by analogy." For purposes of answering the question, I will assume that the payor and the payee both have an Oregon manufactured structures dealer's ("MSD") license. However, that license only permits one to conduct business from a single location.

Phil Querin Q&A: Roaches and You!

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: Since the tenant does not own the home, the answer is found on the general landlord-tenant side of ORS Chapter 90 (as opposed to the manufactured housing side).

Phil Querin Q&A: Resident Builds Carport - Sells Home - New Owner Wants to Take Home and Carport

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: This situation is not directly addressed in the Oregon manufactured housing laws. First, some general observations: The manufactured housing side of the landlord-tenant law regards the “space” as the “premises.” For example, a resident in an apartment may not, without landlord permission, intentionally make major structural changes to the interior of the premises.

Phil Querin Q&A: Boyfriend on Temp Occupant Agreement - What happens after they break up

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: A temporary occupant is not supposed to be paying the rent. You are not allowed to screen for the occupant’s ability to pay, because they are not a tenant. Your acceptance of rent from the occupant creates an appearance that the occupant is really a tenant. Secondly, the law says that a temporary occupant may not live in the home unless there is a tenant there as well.

Phil Querin Q&A: Converting Water Systems and Billing (Well Water to Public System)

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: For purpose of addressing this issue, I will assume that the community currently includes the operating costs for the well in the base rent, i.e. it is not a charge to residents outside of base rent that is allocated to them on a prorata (i.e. per space) basis. Well water is not something you may separately charge the residents for under ORS 90.532.

Phil Querin Q&A: Thirteen Year Old Boy Grows Up - Resident WIthout a Background Check

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer: This is an issue that the Oregon Residential Landlord Tenant Act (“ORLTA” or the “Act”) is not fully equipped to address. Nowhere in the Act is there a clear answer. But connecting some dots, I think we can arrive at a logical answer. • Technically, the 18-year old is not a tenant under the manufactured housing park (“MHP”) side of the Act, since he does not “own” the home.

Phil Querin Q&A: Additional Government Fees

Phil Querin Questions & Answers
Phil Querin

Answer. First, one caveat: This Answer is not intended to constitute legal advice. It is educational only, and should not be relied upon by an MHCO member in lieu of consulting their own legal counsel, who is familiar with their own specific factual situation. Let’s start with a definition of a “utility” under Oregon’s Residential Landlord Tenant Act.