Question:  Our community is having more and more residents who are trying to bring in dogs or other animals as “assistance” or “service” to get around signing the Pet Agreement or paying pet fees. We also have some that bring in pets that are under the weight limit as puppies, but not as adults. What can be done? And what about those breeds of dogs that have a reputation for being vicious, that residents claim are for their emotional support? 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: I have a question regarding a resident's death in our community where the only thing he left was his personal belongings and cars on the space. The landlord owned the home and had been subleasing to the resident. After he passed away, his foster brothers were notified, and they have gone through the home, and presumably took what they wanted. There is no will. What does the landlord do at this point? How would this be different if the resident owned the home?

This is 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. The motivation of the seller was discussed in the first part. In this second part, the owner meets with the Deputy Director and the Real Estate and Cooperative Development Manager for CASA of Oregon. The framing, presentation and negotiation of the Agreement to Purchase" is discussed.

In this second part

Question 1: If a community is a legal 55+ park, is it still subject to the federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against children?

Question 2: If the current rules in a family community appear to be discriminatory towards children -- e.g. they place restrictions that have a discriminatory impact on children or persons with children (e.g. curfew on children, even if it's intended to be for their own safety) can the landlord unilaterally amend the rules, or does he/she need to go through the formal rule change process outlined in the ORS 90.610?

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 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 first part of this series, the motivation of the owner is revealed on why he wanted to work with CASA of Oregon exclusively rather than offering this Community for sale to all interested parties.

There came that time when I knew it is time to get out. This has also occurred several times in my life about situations and commitments that I was in. This is the time that I want to consider getting out of one of my communities. For good. No, I don't want to look at the Federal IRS code 1031 where I can exchange a real estate property for another like kind property. I mean for good!

In the years that MHCO has been involved with the Landlord Tenant Coalition, many aspects of the relationship that Landlords have with Tenants have been discussed. Differences of opinion and understandings have been hashed out. And laws in the Oregon Revised Statutes have been created or at the very least... have been revised.

At the beginning of this decade, a Statewide group going by the name of CASA of Oregon thought that they could start a program where tenants of manufactured home communities could organize, research (with due diligence), negotiate with a seller, close and finally operate a facility. (Would love to see how an organized park owned group will handle a late rent check, dog poop in a common area that can be traced back to the dog and its owner, or God forbid, an abandonment).

State law currently requires a potential seller (which is me in this case) to contact the tenants in the community to state the sellers intentions, and gives those tenants an opportunity to form an Association for the purposes of acquiring that community.

The interesting point of this is I want out. No more looking for other properties. No more looking at Cap Rates. No more P&L's. No more due diligence. No more 1031's. Out, for good! Realize now that when sold, the tax collector will come knocking asking for their cut. The IRS will. But what about the Oregon Department of Revenue?

According to John VanLandingham, an attorney at Lane County Legal Aid and the Oregon Law Center The capital gains breaks are found in the Oregon Revised Statutes following ORS 317.401 (for corporate taxes) and ORS 316.792 (for personal taxes).The specific language

Question. We have an applicant applying for residency that has an Oregon Medical Marijuana Card, He has requested that he grow marijuana for his use and is asking for a reasonable accommodation to grow since our rules do not allow pot to be grown on the space. Does this qualify for a reasonable accommodation? If we make a reasonable accommodation is he still required to grow only the limited number of plants outlined in the ORS? Or can he grow as many as he wants? Can we require that the plants be grown in the back of the space?"