MHCO Legal Counsel

Question: Our community is having more and more residents who purchase pets as puppies, sign the MHCO Pet Agreement that CLEARLY STATES our maximum 25 pound weight limit, and then over time, and the animal becomes too large, they refuse to remove it from the community, and claim their pet is really a "service animal," "assistance animal," "emotional support animal" or some such other animal which they believe protects them from us enforcing the size limits they previously agreed to. What can be done? Do we, as landlords, have any recourse to require residents to get rid of their animals, as they are abusing the system to circumvent our size requirements?

Question: One of my tenants has approached me asking if I would pay relocate their home, as a portion of her space is falling away due to erosion from a nearby stream. As a park owner, what is my responsibility for undertaking this expense?

So before I give you another accounting rule we are enforcing, let me say the goal is to protect your investment! We live in a very litigious society and need to be aware of potential risks and ways to protect our assets. Commonwealth employees are insured through workers' compensation policies and also provided regular training regarding workplace safety. Another area we are striving to improve risk management and compliance is in the area of hiring contractors. When a contractor is hired, the onsite manager must obtain verification that the contractor is licensed, bonded, and insured. In addition, a Form W-9 must be provided for purposes of reporting non-employee compensation on a Form 1099-Misc at the end of the year.

For better than two decades, one of the most significant and unpredictable factors influencing the bottom line of multifamily housing properties has been rising utility costs. This doesn't cause quite as much heartburn for property owners who have wisely passed such utilities through to the residents to pay in addition to their rent. However, for the overwhelming majority of properties, particularly those which were developed prior to the 90's, the rent charged typically includes any combination of utilities including water, sewer, garbage, and to a lesser percentage electricity, natural gas, cable television/satellite, and internet services.

We all know it is far easier to maintain a resident than find one who will fill a vacant space within a community. This is particularly true in 55+ communities. To be great at resident retention, managers need to believe strongly in the lifestyle that has led many seniors to a manufactured housing way of life. Managers must be helpful, respectful, enthusiastic and work relentlessly to continuously improve their seniors' lifestyles.

Submetering is the process of installing a water, gas or electric meter on each mobile home after the master utility meters for the mobile home park. The term "submeter" is used for any meter installed after the master meter. With submeters installed at every mobile home the association is able to utilize a third party meter reading and billing company to read the meters and produce monthly bills for the selected utilities.

When the Sazykin family's 14-year-old son rode his scooter on pathways around the Wah Mai Terrace Apartments complex in Southeast Portland, the apartment manager fined his parents $20.

Question: I have two questions regarding submetering.  When a community completes the submetering and the tenant is paying back the community for the meter and cost of installation, who owns and maintains the meters from that point on?  The second question is that we have a community that was metered when it was built but the community is on a master meter and paying for water and sewer.  The community wants to give the notices to the tenants regarding submtetering but keep the current meters and not charge the tenants at this time for the cost of metering.  If the community chooses to upgrade the meters at a later date, can we then pass the cost on to the tenant?

Question: A resident has a yard maintenance person come to their space once a week to cut the grass and maintain the yard. He is on a sexual predator list and some residents do not want him working in the park. What can the landlord do?

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.