Question: In regards to rules changes, I see two problematic scenarios: (1) Parks that post a new rule in a common area that either overrides an existing rule or is an additional rule not covered in residents' current rules and regs; and (2) Parks that send residents a new set of rules and regs without providing any notice about resident opportunity to object to such new rules and regs. In both scenarios, management fails to give notice required under 90.610. In the first scenario, management not only fails to inform residents of their opportunity to object, they are not even complying with the basic notice requirement in 90.155since they are only posting in a common space where residents hopefully will see it. Can you comment?

By: Bradley Kraus - Attorney at Law - Warren Allen LLP

Bradley Kraus is an attorney at Warren Allen LLP, where he is a member of the firm's landlords' rights team. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Mr. Kraus also graduated cum laude from Lewis and Clark Law School. He currently represents many of the Pacific Northwest's premier management companies and ownership entities and assists clients in various litigation matters, including business, property and contract disputes.

A landlord recently approached me after I watched his eviction trial. He was pro se, and lost to a well-known tenants' attorney due to, among other things, a failure to follow the statutes and requirements set out in the statutes which govern eviction actions in Oregon. Among his questions about what just happened, he exclaimed, [t]his is so straightforward; they owe me rent! That should be all that matters! Doesn't the judge care?!" 

Question: In the past I have always worked successfully with residents on HUD housing vouchers (Section 8), but I have a resident who is now 2 months behind due to HUD not following through with payments. If this keeps happening, do I have to continue to allow Section 8 vouchers, or is it ultimately the responsibility of the resident to get us the rent on time!

By Angel Rogers, ARM, CCRM

It's hard to believe that it has been six weeks since the annual conference in Eugene.  Before we know it 2019 will be here!  Hopefully you will be bringing a renewed sense of pride, commitment, and enthusiasm for your career into the new year, as well as some of the concepts and ideas that were introduced during the conference. 

I know from my own experience of attending conferences that the amount of information gained can be overwhelming.  You may even be asking yourself, 'What happens next, and how can I implement all the great ideas?  Here is something to think about - a "worst practice" is to allow managers to roll out the ideas on their own.  Or

Question: We always ask for a picture of the prospective tenant and all occupants, their RV (if applying to our RV portion of the park), their pets, and the tow vehicle prior to looking at an application. Is this legal? If not, should I destroy all the pictures we have on file? Is it ever legal to have pictures of residents etc. in the files? Would it be better if we did it after the application was reviewed and accepted?

By: Dale Strom

Dale Strom is a second generation Manufactured Home Community landlord. He is a Board Member, past President and current Treasurer of MHCO.

This is the fourth of a multiple part series on a private owner of a Manufactured Home Community willingly attempting to sell that Community to an Association of tenants within that Community. Riverbend MHP is a 39 space community located within the city limits of Clatskanie, OR.

In the third part, the meeting with the tenants is held in Clatskanie, OR. The turnout of the tenants was overwhelming to the author, as well as the enthusiasm of those in the Clatskanie PUD board room. The Author ends this day feeling that this purchase will, more than likely, have a good chance to occur.

In this fourth part, the author now awaits hearing from CASA the Association is formed and learning about the steps being taken during the due diligence, fund acquisition and appraisal periods. Soon, the closing date, November 1, will be here.

*****

Now that I'm home, and just spoken with my onsite manager about what occurred at the meeting, unknowingly, I am entering the Michael Collins phase. Who is Michael Collins you ask? The end of part 3 of this series will give you a hint. I will bring the Michael Collins analogy full circle later in this article.

The meeting at the Clatskanie PUD with the tenants was on June 26, a Tuesday. Other than my manager, I get no feedback from anyone at the meeting. It was either that Thursday or Friday that I call the phone number of the Development Director. No answer; so a message is left on the voice mail. The purpose of my call was to get a summary of what occurred after I exited the meeting.

No response to my message. I'm not going to send another message or phone call. Maybe I'm not to know what went on. Maybe there are things in flux where the information that I'm looking for is not solid. I will wait.

On July 5, nine days after the meeting with the tenants, I get an email from First American Title that a Title Report will be sent to me for my review and approval. I am given a gesture of a happy closing from the Escrow Officer. I guess this purchase is going through.

In a sale to a tenant group in order to form a cooperative, all homes must be owned by the occupants. There can be no park owned homes in a cooperative. OK, this is a small part of this process that I wasn't aware of. Not that it is a problem; but my manager lives in one home and another tenant that is on Section 8 assistance lives in another home that I both own. The home that my manager lives in shouldn't be a problem. I can finance that home to her and her husband, change the ownership documents to their names and I will become a lienholder.

The other home may be an issue. How do you sell a home to a person that doesn't have the proverbial pot to pee in"? To sell Riverbend

Question: We have submeters to all of the resident spaces in our community for sewer and water. But common area sewer/water was not submetered. We would like to do so now. We are planning to look at the trailing 12 months' numbers in each of these three categories, and dividing those numbers by 12 months, and then dividing those number by the number of sites in our community (175). So my question is: How much notice do we have to give our residents in order to pass this amount thru to them?