MHCO Legal Counsel

Question: A member is near the end of an abandonment notice.  The former resident and owner of the home without notice to the landlord sells the "abandoned" home to another person.   Does the landlord have to send a new abandonment notice to the new owner and restart the 60 day clock?  

Question.  As new managers, we are concerned about being able to spot problem issues before they get out of control.  What are some of the major management mistakes we should watch out for? 

Question: In March of this year a home in our community was destroyed by fire.  During the application process with the city and Marion County, it came to our attention that the Fire Marshall had contacted the city public works department, telling them that they needed to be contacted if our community made any placement applications to move a new home into the community.  The city would not accept our application.

Upon contacting the assistant Fire Marshall, she advised that any new homes within the community would have to be located within 600 feet of a fire hydrant.  She advised that this has been the requirement for approximately the last 15 years.  She explained that although there have been homes allowed to be placed in the park exceeding this distance within that time frame, the fact that they were more than 600 feet from the hydrant was apparently not an issue.

She further explained that the fire engines carry 600 feet of fire hose, and that during the March fire the responding fire fighters ran out of hose prior to reaching the fire.  A second fire engine was needed lay additional hose to the scene.  She said that until a solution was made to be able to supply a suitable water supply for firefighting, no homes could be placed in the park that are located more than 600 feet from the hydrant.

As an older park where the homes are quite vintage, this will obviously cause a major blow to our business in the future.  Are we in anyway protected or somehow "grandfathered" due to the age of our park? I can't imagine that we are the only park that may face similar situations.

Question:  I gave a 5% rent increase in June 2019.  Can I do another rent increase again in September 2019?  If I can, how much more can I give?  If I did not give any rent increases in 2019 can I still do those increases in 2020 plus what I what is allowed in 2020?  Are rent increases based on calendar year? 

Question.  We have just begun managing a 55+ community. However, we are confused about the 80/20 rules and the possibility of losing our 55+ status. What is a safe margin for occupancy limits?  And if our community percentage is 85%, are we required to rent the 15% remainder to families with children?  

Question. A resident recently moved out of state.  The landlord wants to mail a non-payment of rent notice, and would like proof that the notice was received by the resident.  Can the landlord mail the notice as a "Certificate of Mailing"?

No. 1 Question.Can you describe the step by step process of implementing water submetering with respect to the tenant notification and billing process?

Termination of Manager Occupying  A Park-Owned Home

Question: As our on-site community manager is living in a park-owned mobile home (POH), consistent with his job duties, rent free.  His employment paperwork is legal and minimal, and no rental agreement was included in his hire packet.  Each month, he receives a rent credit equal to the total rent & utility charges, so he pays no rent as part of his compensation package.  His pay stub does not include a housing allowance, and he does not pay the company rent for the home.

How do we proceed with termination and eviction?   For future reference what documentation should a community owner have in the employment packet? 

Answer:  Below is the relevant statute. Note it is NOT found in the landlord-tenant law (ORS Chapter 90), so many managers don’t see them; they are found in ORS Chapter 91.

91.120 Eviction of employee; notice required. An employee described in ORS 90.110 (7)[1]may only be evicted pursuant to ORS 105.105 to 105.168 after at least 24 hours’ written notice of the termination of employment or a notice period set forth in a written employment contract, whichever is longer. This section does not create the relationship of landlord and tenant between a landlord and such employee. (Emphasis added.)

So, check your manager’s employment contract to see if it addresses continued occupancy after termination. If it says nothing, then minimum amount of time you must give is 24-hours. The statute couldbe read to mean that the written 24-hour termination of employment is sufficient notice. However, I would suggest that when you terminate the manager you alsoissue a written notice of termination of their occupancy. 

The manager is not a “tenant” for purposes of ORS Chapter 90, so you don’t need to worry about adding three days for mailing etc. I would try to have the termination of employment and the termination of occupancy hand delivered. 

If you have questions about the termination of employment, you should contact an employment attorney. As for the termination of occupancy, all you need to say is the following:

DATE & TIME OF DELIVERY: _________________________

Pursuant to ORS 91.120, please regard this as notice of formal termination of your right of occupancy of [address]:_______________________________________ (“Premises”).  Please vacate the Premises no later than 5:00 PM on the ___ day of ________________, 2019 [Date and Time to be no less than24-hours from above date and time of delivery].  If you have any questions please contact your attorney.

[Signed]

______________________________

Make sure the notice gives a full 24-hours advance notice. Certainly, unless there is reason for not doing so, you can always insert a longer period of time to vacate.  Don’t agree to any extensions without it being in writing.

If the ex-manager refuses to vacate, you may append the notice to the standard court-issue summons and eviction form and have it served. The eviction process would be the same as if you were evicting a park tenant. The only thing different is that ORS Chapter 90 does not apply.

I think it’s important that your employment agreement makes clear that (a) the manager’s occupancy of the park-owned home is conditioned upon their continued employment, and (b) that upon termination of employment you have the right to terminate their occupancy under ORS 91.120 with not less than 24-hours’ notice.

Note that ORS 92.120 assumes the manager doesn’t own the home. If he or she does own the home, it’s a far different equation in my opinion. If that is the case, it would seem their continued right of occupancy should be addressed in the employment agreement, since otherwise, the ex-manager could morph into a “tenant” under ORS Chapter 90 if they started making payments monthly space rent. If you are thinking about hiring a current tenant as a manager, you should consult your attorney for directions as how to fashion the employment agreement.  

[1]Unless created to avoid the application of this chapter, the following arrangements are not governed by this chapter: *** (7) Occupancy by an employee of a landlord whose right to occupancy is conditional upon employment in and about the premises. However, the occupancy by an employee as described in this subsection may be terminated only pursuant to ORS 91.120 (Eviction of employee).

Termination of Manager Occupying  A Park-Owned Home

Question: As our on-site community manager is living in a park-owned mobile home (POH), consistent with his job duties, rent free.  His employment paperwork is legal and minimal, and no rental agreement was included in his hire packet.  Each month, he receives a rent credit equal to the total rent & utility charges, so he pays no rent as part of his compensation package.  His pay stub does not include a housing allowance, and he does not pay the company rent for the home.

How do we proceed with termination and eviction?   For future reference what documentation should a community owner have in the employment packet? 

Question: We have an applicant who was pre-approved for residency, then purchased a home but did not show up to sign the rental agreement or moving into the home. We learned the reason for not showing up was that he had been recently arrested for multiple counts of identity theft and is also being investigated for drug activity.

Question: A community’s security camera taped one of the residents one night cutting the line and stealing the camera.   The landlord wants to give a 30 day notice.  Any issues the landlord should be aware of since it was video-taped?  If the accused resident does nothing wrong again in the community after the 30-day notice has been served - then he gets to stay correct?  Even though he does not return the camera or pay damages?