MHCO Legal Counsel

Question. Our park is on a well water. A few weeks ago, several homes had their pipes underneath their homes burst, leaving no pressure for water to deliver to the other homes in the community. The park was out of water for 6 days. A tenant in the park has told my onsite manager that he will deduct $15 a day from the rent. I told my manager not to accept his rent fearing that I will waive my rights to collect full rent which I feel that the park is entitled to. I have further instructed my manager to charge a late fee on the 6th day of the month, and then issue a 72 hour notice.

It is my belief that what occurred was not the fault of the park. I cannot allow this to occur, because every other tenant will then think that they can withhold rent when minor incidents happen. The tenant remains firm in his stance. I see my only avenue here is to file an eviction. Any suggestions?

Question: When residents want to place their home on the market, we tell them we have a preferred real estate agent we want them to use. Some residents oppose this and want to use their own agent they've already been working with. How can we resolve this? Also, is it permissible for us to insist that if they use their agent, we receive a portion of the commission at closing? We have a similar arrangement with our preferred agent, and it's worked out quite well.

Question.  What are a landlord’s rights when it comes to residents’ displaying signs on their spaces or homes that might be regarded as provocative or inflammatory by others, e.g. the display of confederate flags, gay flags, pro- or anti-Trump signs?  Can management prohibit them? What are the residents’ rights?

Question. What needs to be posted on the walls of our manager's office? Do fair housing posters need to be posted - screening criteria, etc.?

Question: We have had to file two consecutive FED Complaints against a resident. The day before the first appearance for each case, the resident tender the rent that was due, although he did not pay the court fees of $115.00. After two months of this, he owes us $230.00. He promises to repay this amount but does not. Now rent is due for January, 2017. We are sure the same thing will happen again. How can we collect the court fees?

Question. We are a 55+ community. One of our residents has a lot of family coming in and leaving from early morning until late at night. This resident also has two Temporary Occupants living with her, one of her daughters and her husband. The resident also has a granddaughter with three children that are brought to the house on a daily basis by her and one of the Temporary Occupants. It has been brought to my attention recently that the children are basically living there and staying over at least 5 nights a week. (The two older kids are school age and come to the space after school, but the youngest child is there all the time.) I am told by another family member the mother of these children is homeless and goes and stays with someone else at night, but does not take the children with her.

My question is because we are a 55+ community what can I do, if anything, to stop them from babysitting the children at the residents which is causing a disturbance to the neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of the community? I have received written complaints from some of the neighbors stating that the comings and goings is disturbing them. Because these children do not meet our age requirement to live here, what steps can I take to stop the daily babysitting and staying the night? One of the neighbors recently told me she is going to put her home on the market for sale because of this issue."

Question. We are a 55+ community. One of our residents has a lot of family coming in and leaving from early morning until late at night. This resident also has two Temporary Occupants living with her, one of her daughters and her husband. The resident also has a granddaughter with three children that are brought to the house on a daily basis by her and one of the Temporary Occupants. It has been brought to my attention recently that the children are basically living there and staying over at least 5 nights a week. (The two older kids are school age and come to the space after school, but the youngest child is there all the time.) I am told by another family member the mother of these children is homeless and goes and stays with someone else at night, but does not take the children with her.

My question is because we are a 55+ community what can I do, if anything, to stop them from babysitting the children at the residents which is causing a disturbance to the neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of the community? I have received written complaints from some of the neighbors stating that the comings and goings is disturbing them. Because these children do not meet our age requirement to live here, what steps can I take to stop the daily babysitting and staying the night? One of the neighbors recently told me she is going to put her home on the market for sale because of this issue."

Waiver of Termination of Tenancy. A landlord waives the right to terminate a rental agreement for a particular violation of the rental agreement or of law if the landlord:

• During three or more separate rental periods, accepts rent with knowledge of the violation by the tenant; or
• Accepts performance by a tenant that varies from the terms of the rental agreement.
• A landlord has not accepted rent for purposes of subsection (2) of this section if:
  • Within 10 days after receipt of the rent payment, the landlord refunds the rent; or
  • The rent payment is made in the form of a check that is dishonored.

Question: A home was purchased by a local dealer from a resident who had not paid rent for several months. The dealer then sold the home to another person who applied for tenancy and passed the screening criteria. The landlord wants the past due rent ($900) paid before permitting applicant to move into the home. Can the landlord go after the dealer to pay the past due rent? Can the landlord keep the applicant from moving in until the $900 is paid? Should the landlord have given some notice to the existing tenant, the dealer, and/or the prospective tenant, regarding how the unpaid rent should be handled? What about other expenses the tenant who sold the home ran up, such as utilities, late fees, maintenance clean up expenses, etc.? What do you suggest as far as notices to the dealer stating the amount of money owed? The dealer is not the lien holder.

Under Oregon law, anyone, who for compensation, arranges or undertakes or offers to undertake or submit a bid to construct, alter, repair...for another, any building...structure, project...or improvement attached to real estate, is a "contractor." See, ORS 701.055(3) Although there are several exceptions to this law, the ramifications of this broad definition can have a significant legal effect on park owners and managers who have work performed in their community. Here are some general rules to avoid liability when working with contractors: