Search

Answer: The process for evicting an RV tenant is the same process used for evicting most tenants in any setting. Nearly every eviction begins with an eviction notice, which must be properly served on the RV tenant. "Proper service" under Oregon law means that the eviction notice must be either (1) personally served, (2) mailed by first class mail, or (3) posted and mailed (if allowed by the rental agreement).

I recommend that if the RV tenant has an individual mailbox at the park, eviction notices should be mailed with at least 3 days added for mailing time. If the tenant does not have mail service at the park, or if the mail goes through the park office for RV tenants, then personally serve the notice by putting it in his or her hand. "Posting and mailing" as a method of service should be avoided, since there must be very specific language in the rental agreement allowing such service.

Most notices give the tenant a certain amount of time to remedy a default (i.e., 72 hours to pay past-due rent), followed by a tenancy termination deadline if the default isn't remedied. Other notices can't be remedied (i.e., a 24-hour notice for outrageous conduct) and simply inform the tenant that they must vacate by a certain time and date. RV tenants can also be evicted with a 30-day, no-cause notice if they have been in the park less than a year. Anything over a year requires a 60-day notice to evict without cause.

The one special circumstance for evicting an RV that does not require service of a notice is the so-called "midnight move-in." This occurs when an RV simply drives onto a space in the park without the prior consent of the landlord. When that happens and the RV owner refuses to vacate immediately, the landlord can simply file an eviction case without needing to serve any notice.
In all other cases, after an eviction notice expires and the RV tenant fails to vacate, the landlord will need to file an eviction lawsuit at the local county courthouse. The eviction lawsuit is sometimes referred to as an "FED" ("Forcible Entry and Detainer"). The tenant will be served with an eviction summons and complaint and be required to appear in court.

As the landlord, you will also need to appear in court unless you have an attorney or other agent (such as a property manager) appear in court at the "1st appearance hearing." This hearing is usually set 8 days after the FED is filed. The purpose of the hearing is to see whether the parties can work out a payment plan, move-out agreement, or other arrangement. If not, the case will be set for trial.

If you are unable to settle the case at the first appearance hearing, by law the trial must be scheduled within 15 days from the 1st appearance hearing. Sometimes, the parties or the court will delay the trial beyond this time frame, but most cases move quickly. This leaves little time for preparation, meaning it is important to have your witnesses, exhibits, and trial arguments ready to go.
You do not necessarily need an attorney for court appearances, but you will increase your chance of success if you do. The eviction statutes are very technical, and most people aren't familiar with courtroom procedures. You will especially be at a disadvantage if the RV tenant has an attorney. If your case gets to the point of a trial, it is usually worth it to hire an attorney.

Mark L. Busch, P.C.
Attorney at Law
Cornell West, Suite 200
1500 NW Bethany Blvd.
Beaverton, Oregon 97006

Ph: 503-597-1309
Fax: 503-430-7593
Web: www.marklbusch.com
Email: mark@marklbusch.com

Answer: No, the park should definitely not use a regular manufactured home rental agreement for RVs. By doing so, the park might inadvertently give the RV tenants more rights than they are otherwise entitled to under Oregon's Landlord-Tenant Laws.

Specifically, the MHCO manufactured home rental agreement (and most other, similar manufactured home rental agreements) typically define the rented space as being used for a "manufactured home." This could used against the park in an eviction action. The RV tenant's attorney could very well argue that the RV is a "manufactured home," and therefore not subject to a 30-day, no-cause eviction, as RV tenants typically may be evicted.

Tenant attorneys might also try to argue that the termination provisions in a manufactured home rental agreement similarly do not allow no-cause evictions. All in all, using a regular rental agreement is not a good idea.

Instead, use MHCO Form 80 (Recreational Vehicle Space Rental Agreement). It includes all of the usual landlord protections, plus these specific requirements under Oregon law: (a) That the tenancy may be terminated by the landlord without cause upon 30 or 60 days' written notice for a month-to-month tenancy or upon 10 days' written notice for a week-to-week tenancy; (b) that any accessory building or structure paid for or provided by the tenant belongs to the tenant and is subject to a demand by the landlord that the tenant remove the building or structure upon termination of the tenancy; and, (c) that a state agency or local government may not prohibit the placement or occupancy of an RV, or impose any limit on the length of occupancy, if the RV is located in a manufactured dwelling park, mobile home park or recreational vehicle park, occupied as a residential dwelling and lawfully connected to water and electrical supply systems and a sewage disposal system.

Mark L. Busch, P.C.
Attorney at Law
Cornell West, Suite 200
1500 NW Bethany Blvd.
Beaverton, Oregon 97006

Ph: 503-597-1309
Fax: 503-430-7593
Web: www.marklbusch.com
Email: mark@marklbusch.com

Answer. Oregon law requires that unless exempted, an individual must use a "mortgage loan originator" ("MLO") [e.g. mortgage bankers or mortgage brokers] license if he/she:
- Takes a residential mortgage loan application; or
- Negotiates the terms or conditions of a residential mortgage loan.

It is the second of these two requirements that affect you as a park owner re-selling formerly abandoned homes. You must either use a MLO or be covered by an exemption. However, as you will see under the Oregon MLO laws below, the statute is not limited only to "abandoned homes" - just "previously owned homes."

The Safe Act. The federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Lending Act ("S.A.F.E. Act") of 2008 requires that MLOs register with the Oregon Department of Business and Consumer Services ("DCBS"). As required by the S.A.F.E. Act, all states must adopt their own set of laws governing MLOs. Oregon's version is found at ORS 86A.200 to 86A.239. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB"), a Dodd- Frank created mega-agency, and DCBS have taken the position that the S.A.F.E. Act applies not only to third-party loans, but also to seller-carried transactions, including manufactured homes both inside and outside of parks.

Oregon MLO Laws. An individual may not engage in business as a mortgage loan originator in Oregon without first:
- Obtaining and maintaining a MLO license; and
- Obtaining a unique identifier from the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry ("NMLS").

Exemptions to MLO Laws:
- A registered MLO acting within the scope of their employment;
- One who offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan with or on behalf of the individual's spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild or a relative in a similar relationship with the individual that is created by law, marriage or adoption;
- One who offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan that is secured by a dwelling that served as the individual's residence;
- An Oregon-licensed attorney [subject to limitations]:
- An individual licensed as a manufactured structure dealer under ORS 446.691 and who:
o Offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan related to a sale for occupancy of a previously owned manufactured dwelling in a manufactured dwelling park three (3) or fewer times in any 12- month period; and
o Uses a written sale agreement form with the purchaser that: (a) complies with the requirements of ORS 646A.050, 646A.052 and 646A.054; (b) with any applicable administrative rules; and (c) any other applicable requirements for residential mortgages for manufactured dwellings.
o Note: This exemption does not permit the individual to hold more than eight (8) residential mortgage loans at any one time.
- An individual who is licensed as a limited manufactured structure dealer, and who:
o Has an ownership interest in a manufactured dwelling park;
o Offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan related to a sale for occupancy of a previously owned manufactured dwelling in any manufactured dwelling park in which the individual has an ownership interest, five (5) or fewer times in any 12-month period; and
o Uses a written sale agreement form with the purchaser that: (a) complies with the requirements of ORS 646A.050, 646A.052 and 646A.054, (b) with any applicable administrative rules, and (c) with any other applicable requirements for residential mortgages for manufactured dwellings.
o This exemption does not permit the individual to hold more than twelve (12) residential mortgage loans at any one time.
- An employee of a licensed manufactured structure dealer is not subject to the MLO licensing requirements if the employee:
o Performs only administrative or clerical tasks; and
o Receives only a salary or commission that is customary among dealers and employees of dealers.
- An employee of a dealer may become subject to the licensing provisions if the CFPB determines, in a guideline, rule, regulation or interpretive letter that this exemption granted is inconsistent with requirements set forth in 12 U.S.C. 5101 et. seq. (S.A.F.E. Act)

Editors Note: MHCO is very happy to welcome Mark Busch as a presenter at MHCO's next mandatory training seminary in Bend on July 17th

Answer: The short answer is "not always." More specifically, the laws covering RV tenants are sometimes different from those covering mobile home park tenants. As such, your park will need some separate forms specifically for RV tenants, although there are certain forms that work for both types of tenants.
First and foremost, use a rental agreement form designed for RV tenancies. As mentioned in a previous article, MHCO Form 80 is an excellent recreational vehicle space rental agreement.
Beyond the rental agreement, the basic forms every RV landlord should have are tenancy application and move-in forms (i.e., MHCO Form 01 - Rental Application, Form 03 - Criminal Check Authorization, Form 10 - Application Denial). With proper training, these forms are easily filled out and used during the RV tenant application process.

You will also need eviction notice forms. Here are the most common eviction forms:

1. 72-hour rent nonpayment forms - MHCO Form 82 -(these forms can be the same for mobile home and RV tenants).

2. 30-day or 60-day no cause notice forms (these are different from mobile home park forms).

3. 30-day for cause eviction forms - MHCO Form 83 - (these are different from mobile home park forms).

4. 24-hour eviction notice forms (these forms can be the same for mobile home and RV tenants).

Keep in mind that a form is only as good as the knowledge of the person filling it out. If a form is filled out incorrectly, a landlord risks losing an eviction case to a tenant. This means that not only will the tenant be allowed to stay on the RV space, but you would also likely be held responsible for the tenant's attorney fees and court costs. These fees and costs can run several thousand dollars or more. And you have to start over with evicting the RV tenant.

The best way to ensure a legally enforceable form is to have a knowledgeable landlord attorney spend 5 minutes reviewing it before you serve it on the RV tenant. It all goes back to the old adage that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If an attorney reviews your form before you use it, you immediately and significantly reduce the chances that you will lose an eviction case.

After you or your manager become comfortable filling out your forms, it is not as necessary to involve your attorney. Basic forms - if filled out correctly - typically present no problems later. However, it is always wise to have your attorney review eviction notices, particularly for-cause notices. For-cause notices are typically the ones most challenged by tenants and their attorneys.

A final caveat on RV forms is that you should never purchase forms online or elsewhere that are not specifically tailored for Oregon law. Such forms are typically missing provisions that are either required by Oregon law or are beneficial to landlords under Oregon law.

Mark L. Busch, P.C.
Attorney at Law
Cornell West, Suite 200
1500 NW Bethany Blvd.
Beaverton, Oregon 97006

Ph: 503-597-1309
Fax: 503-430-7593
Web: www.marklbusch.com
Email: mark@marklbusch.com

Answer: The applicable statute is ORS 90.304. In summary, it provides as follows:

1. If you require an applicant to pay a screening charge and the application is denied (or if the applicant makes a written request following your denial of an application) you must promptly provide the applicant with a written statement of one or more reasons for the denial.

2. Your statement of reasons for denial may consist of a form with one or more reasons checked off. MHCO has such a form. The reasons for rejection under the statute include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Rental information, including:

o Negative or insufficient reports from references or other sources;
o An unacceptable or insufficient rental history, such as the lack of a reference from a prior landlord;
o A prior eviction action for possession under ORS 105.105 to ORS 105. 168 that resulted in a general judgment of restitution in the landlord's favor; and
o The inability to verify information regarding a rental history.

- Criminal records, including:

o An unacceptable criminal history;
o The inability to verify information regarding criminal history.

- Financial information, including:

o Insufficient income;
o Negative information provided by a consumer credit reporting agency; and
o Inability to verify information regarding credit history.

- Failure to meet other written screening or admission criteria in your lease or rental agreement. (See Footnote 1)

- The dwelling unit has already been rented.

3. If you fail to comply with these provisions, the applicant may recover from you $100.

Footnote 1: The MHCO Lease (MHCO Form 5B) and Rental (MHCO Form 5A) forms list the screening criteria which a landlord may impose when the resident is seeking to sell their home to an applicant who wants to become a resident in the community. They are the following: (a) unsatisfactory rental references; (b) the absence of any prior tenant history or credit history; (c) unsatisfactory credit history; (d) unsatisfactory character references; (e) any criminal history; (f) insufficient income to reasonably meet the monthly rental and other expense obligations under this Agreement; (g) presence of pets or the number, type or size of pets; (h) if the Community is an age 55+ or 62+ Community, reasonable evidence verifying that at least one occupant is age 55 or 62, or over, as the case may be; (i) evidence that the prospective tenant has provided LANDLORD with falsified or materially misleading information on any material items; (j) if the prospective tenant refuses to sign a new written rental or lease agreement; (k) the number of additional occupants; or, (1) adverse information contained in the public record.

Answer: The tenant application process is one of the least understood by landlords and managers. This lack of familiarity can result in significant liability to park owners. Here is a short primer:

Screening Criteria. The manufactured housing section of Oregon's landlord-tenant law provides that any conditions the landlord applies in approving a purchaser who will live in the community should be disclosed in the existing resident's rental or lease agreement.(1) Although those conditions must be in conformance with state and federal laws, there are no limitations or restrictions as to what criteria may be placed in the rental or lease agreement.

If you are changing your screening criteria for existing residents, you may be in violation of Oregon law, since those criteria are supposed to already be in the rental agreement, which, as you know, cannot be unilaterally amended by a landlord - subject only to specific exceptions.

MHCO's rental (Form 5A) and lease agreement (Form 5B) forms contain a number of criteria that landlords may impose, such as: (a) prior rental references; (b) unsatisfactory credit history or no credit history; (c) character references; (d) criminal history; (e) insufficient income to reasonably meet the monthly space rent and other expense obligations imposed by the rental or lease agreement; (f) the presence, number and size of pets; (g) age verification criteria if the park is a 55+ facility; (h) evidence of falsified or misleading material information; (i) refusal to sign a written lease or rental agreement; (j) additional occupants; and (k) adverse public record information.

Note that in 2013, the Oregon Legislature changed the law as it relates to "criminal history." Now, landlords and managers may not summarily reject a prospective tenant for "any" criminal history. Today, it is limited to:

- Pending criminal charges, or
- Prior criminal convictions, if they resulted from crimes that are:
o Drug-related;
o Against persons;
o Sexual in nature;
o Fraudulent in nature; or
o That could adversely affect the property, health, safety, or peaceful enjoyment of the landlord, landlord's agents, or tenants.

To remind landlords and managers, MHCO will be adding these clarifications to its rental and lease agreement forms. In the meantime, landlords and managers should adhere to the new limitations described above.

Although there may be other criteria that landlords and managers may wish to use when deciding whether to accept an applicant, the above list in the MHCO form is very comprehensive, and should be sufficient in imposing adequate guidelines when a resident wishes to sell their home on site. If you want to make a change by adding additional screening criteria, you may only do so for new residents coming into the community - not retroactively for existing residents.

Landlords and managers should become familiar with the criteria imposed in their rental agreements and rental application forms. Additionally, they should not rely upon the application information submitted to them without a thorough background check providing necessary verification. Although Oregon law imposes a 7-day or 10-day period (2) within which landlords have to respond to a submitted application, it does not prohibit landlords from imposing a longer period so long as the applicant agrees. Additionally, Oregon law expressly states that the 7-day or 10-day period does not commence if the application is incomplete or inaccurate. Accordingly, landlords and managers would be wise to immediately return any submitted application if it is incomplete - and upon discovering that the prospective tenant/purchaser provided inaccurate information, the application should also be returned. Accepting an incomplete application or continuing with the process after discovering that the applicant has provided incorrect information can result in an argument by the existing tenant or the new applicant that the landlord is intentionally delaying the process.

Conclusion. Landlords would have fewer tenant problems if they took more time during the screening process. This means resisting the temptation to fill a space quicker than the approval process actually takes. Unfortunately, the desire to have the rental flow commence quickly can result in the process becoming rushed. Landlords and managers should never allow the applicant to rush them. Nor should they ever permit an applicant to move into a home before the process has been completed and a new rental agreement signed. Lastly, fairness and uniformity in screening will help to avoid the ever-present liability that can occur under the federal and state Fair Housing laws when one applicant claims they were treated differently than another.

1 Although the law provides that the screening criteria must be in the rental or lease agreement, they may also be found in the rules and regulations. While there is no problem with this, other than redundancy, landlords should be careful to make sure that the criteria are the same. Similarly, the criteria may also be put in the Statement of Policy, but similar caution should be exercised to make them consistent. My approach is however, to avoid the risk of inconsistency by not repeating the same requirements in multiple documents. If one document gets changed and the others don't there will be an inconsistency.

2 The longer period exists if the tenant failed to give the landlord at least 10-days advance notice of intent to sell his/her home.

Answer: Today, everyone is afraid of identity theft. Since your social security number is your unique identifier, it can provide thieves with a valuable tool, should they want to secure your credit information and ultimately your identity for purposes of securing credit under your name. Here is what the Social Security Administration says about your number:

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. A dishonest person who has your Social Security number can use it to get other personal information about you. Identity thieves can use your number and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, they use the credit cards and do not pay the bills. You may not find out that someone is using your number until you are turned down for credit or you begin to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought. Someone illegally using your Social Security number and assuming your identity can cause a lot of problems.

Your number is confidential

The Social Security Administration protects your Social Security number and keeps your records confidential. We do not give your number to anyone, except when authorized by law. You should be careful about sharing your number, even when you are asked for it. You should ask why your number is needed, how it will be used and what will happen if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give out your Social Security number.

Oregon has the Identity Theft Protection Act which prohibits person's and companies who maintain Social Security numbers as a form of customer identifier from printing a consumer's SSN on any mailed materials not requested by the consumer (unless redacted) and printing a consumer's SSN on a card used by the consumer that is required to access products or services.

While there is plenty of information about how to protect against identity theft, the real issue, when must I turn over my SSN to someone who is asking for it? The list is actually pretty short, and somewhat expected. The major ones are: credit card applications (discussed below); cash transactions over $10,000 (required by the IRS 1); when applying for certain federal benefits; for U.S. military paperwork; for employment purposes; and, when applying for a license through the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles. 2

Your question focuses on credit card applications related to your business. For consumers, their SSN is almost the sine qua non for obtaining credit. In other words, if you refuse to provide you SSN, you can kiss your application goodbye. Armed with your SSN and virtually nothing else, a car dealer or other merchant, can almost immediately determine your credit score. However, providing it to your doctor's office or other provider may not be necessary. Much depends on whether you are on Medicare or Medicaid.

While it might be nice, as a business owner, if you could use your Employer ID number (EIN), if you had one, the issue is that when extending credit for small businesses, it is far easier to run a credit check on the consumer, i.e. you, that your business, which until recently, was not an option. However, in December 2013, FICO, the primary credit scoring company in the country, has opened up a service for small businesses. Here is what they say on their website here:

Getting approved for a loan is a major challenge for small business owners, but the reason they're denied credit is often kept secret. That's about to change as one key player in the credit scoring industry makes its small business scores available to owners for the first time.

FICO (FICO) scores are used as tools for lenders to determine the creditworthiness of applicants. Its general scores have been available to individual consumers for years, but its small business scores have only been disclosed to lenders.
Now, the service is partnering with companies like Creditera, an online credit monitoring system, to bring more transparency to the process. It won't be free, like many of its consumer scores are, but come January, business owners who subscribe to Creditera will be able to see FICO's Small Business Scoring Service measurement.

The change will allow small business owners to see how they're being judged by lenders, giving them a better idea of what kind of credit and rates they should expect.

Conclusion. Although this entire issue is beyond my legal knowledge, this approach, i.e. to obtain extensions of credit through your business, may enable you to use your EIN rather than your SSN. Since they are both 9-digit numbers, it may be possible to use the EIN rather than your SSN. In some business and tax forms, they are used somewhat interchangeably.

While this approach would not necessarily prevent someone from stealing your EIN, identity thieves typically go after the low hanging fruit, i.e. the SSNs, which are much more ubiquitous than EINs. Again, I admit I'm a bit out of my element on this question. I acknowledge that even getting an extension of business credit, may entail, at least initially, the use of your SSN. However, it may be worth a try, in order to see if, over time, when applying for business credit, you can use the company's EIN rather than your SSN. For more on the difference between the two, see this helpful link here.

1 Actually, the IRS form 8300 asks for the TIN, or "taxpayer identification number," which is the same as the EIN, or "Employer Identification Number." For individuals, that is normally their social security number.

Answer: Yes, you can close the restroom and the laundry facility, but you will need to jump through a few legal hoops to do it.

Under Oregon law, a landlord cannot unilaterally make a change if it "works a substantial modification of the bargain" unless the RV tenant consents in writing. (Note: This differs from the rule change notice and voting procedure for mobile home tenants. That procedure does not apply to RV tenants.)

While you could try getting the written consent of all of your RV tenants, I doubt very much that they would agree to it. Most tenants are not willing to voluntarily give up services provided as part of their rent.

My recommendation has always been to issue either 30-day or 60-day no-cause tenancy termination notices to all RV tenants, coupled with an offer to sign a new rental agreement. The new rental agreement would include a provision specifying that the park will no longer provide a public restroom or laundry. If tenants choose to stay, they would need to sign the new agreement agreeing to the change. If not, they would need to vacate the park or face an eviction action.
Assuming your RV tenants are on a month-to-month rental agreement, a 30-day notice could be issued to any RV tenant who has been a tenant for less than a year. If the tenant has been in the park for a year or longer, it would require a 60-day notice. (Although I would recommend the same 60-day timeline for all RV tenants to avoid any claims of unfairness.)

Mark L. Busch, P.C.
Attorney at Law
Cornell West, Suite 200
1500 NW Bethany Blvd.
Beaverton, Oregon 97006

Ph: 503-597-1309
Fax: 503-430-7593
Web: www.marklbusch.com
Email: mark@marklbusch.com

Although not a true capital expenditure; computer hardware, software and peripherals do not last forever. Deciding when is the right time to replace them or upgrade is always a difficult decision. Will upgrading increase productivity? A new system can affect productivity in positive ways. In today's business environment many users have more applications open at one time and a new system with increased speed will have a positive effect on managing the time spent moving between applications. One of the obvious reasons to upgrade is your operating system is probably running Windows XP which was released to the market in 2001 and support for this system is no longer available. So not upgrading isn't even an option, it's a cost of doing business today. Advances in computers and software dictate that every few years you are going to need to make some upgrades. If you are eight years behind, this becomes a more formidable task and a larger learning curve. It's far better to continually upgrade your systems. The expense will be the same in the long run, but the result is that you will be more productive and ease into incremental training. These are all things to consider when determining a budget for your reserve account.

There are several capital improvements that can increase the value of your MHC. Filling vacant manufactured home sites is one. A vacant home site is costing you money to keep the lawn mown, the weeds removed and lot to be cleaned, not to mention the loss of revenue. It also can cause your residents angst having an unsightly empty lot next door. Putting together a strategic plan for filling your vacancies is proactive and critical. Be creative. For example, consider looking at a vacant single wide site that may be able to fit a double wide home by setting the home back and installing a front load driveway. Another is submetering water, sewer and passing through the garbage service expense. By installing water meters at each manufactured home and billing the resident's back for water, sewer and passing through the garbage you are in effect increasing your bottom line. This is one of the most equitable ways to pass on expenses to the residents as they only pay for what they use. Commonwealth can discuss with you how to install submeters with zero investment from you, the owner. Other ideas to add value is to increase curb appeal in your community and install new and attractive signs at the entrances. Maintain adequate energy efficient lighting to save on your electric bills while also promoting safety in the community. If you have vacant land, consider developing more MH sites, RV storage or storage units. All of these are things to consider when you're reinvesting into your community.

Tom Petitt
Vice President

Article provided by Tom Petitt, Vice President for Commonwealth. Tom joined Commonwealth Real Estate Services in July, 2012 and will oversee the Oregon Property Management Division and work closely with all other aspects of our company helping us further develop and grow our existing business as well as managing a portfolio of properties. Tom attended Western Oregon State University where he majored in Business and Marketing, he has over 15 years' experience in the manufactured housing industry working in property management, retail sales management, operations, and property development. Tom is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Oregon. In his spare time Tom enjoys spending time with his family, coaching youth sports in his local community, and volunteering for special events and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Also Tom is actively involved in multiple committees at Commonwealth Real Estate Services. Learn more about Tom and the rest of the Commonwealth team here!

Answer: In a word - No. Or, to be more precise, as discussed below, if you do not renew the lease, it will automatically become a month-to-month tenancy on the same terms as the lease. In other words, your non-renewal will not result in forcing the tenant to vacate the space.

When this law was first being discussed, this issue was addressed. Prior to enactment, there was an open question whether fixed term tenancies [i.e. leases - those with definite start and ending dates] were even legal. From the tenants' perspective, under the manufactured housing landlord-tenant laws, since a landlord cannot terminate a tenancy "without cause," a lease that expires without renewal is the same thing i.e. termination without cause. Accordingly, ORS 90.545 was enacted, which provided protections to tenants against the possibility of unilateral nonrenewal.

Is this unfair to a landlord, such as yourself, when an applicant is approved, ostensibly based upon a satisfactory application, who then becomes the "Tenant From Hell?" Some would say that the landlord's best protection is at the front end of the business relationship, since he/she is given a full and complete opportunity to set out all screening criteria and performing a thorough vetting of the applicant's financial, rental, and criminal background. But once the landlord approves the applicant - presumably because he/she passed the vetting process - they have the right to remain at the space, so long as they don't commit certain material violations, such as nonpayment of rent, breach the rules, rental agreement, state law, or commit certain actions outrageous in the extreme.

Here is how the fixed term tenancy law, found at ORS 90.545 and 90.550, works:

• At least 60 days prior to the ending date of the lease term the landlord must provide to the tenant a proposed new lease, together with a written statement that summarizes any new or revised terms, conditions, rules or regulations.
• The new rental agreement may include new or revised terms, conditions, rules or regulations, if:
• They fairly implement a statute or ordinance adopted after the creation of the pre-existing lease; or
• They are the same as those offered to new or prospective tenants at the time the new proposed lease is submitted to the tenant and for the preceding six-months prior to submission period;
• If there have been no new or prospective tenants during the six-month period, the new lease terms must be same as are customary for the rental market; and
• They are consistent with the rights and remedies provided to tenants under ORS Chapter 90; and
• Do not relate to the age, size, style, construction material or year of construction of the manufactured dwelling [or floating home] contrary to ORS 90.632 (2) (Footnote 1); and
• Do not require an alteration of the manufactured dwelling [or floating home] or alteration or new construction of an accessory building or structure.
• The tenant may accept or reject a landlord's proposed new rental agreement at least 30 days prior to the ending of the term by giving written notice to the landlord.
• Note that if a landlord fails to submit a proposed new rental agreement as allowed, the tenancy renews as a month-to-month tenancy under the same terms as the prior lease, except that the landlord has the right to increase the rent unilaterally, pursuant to ORS 90.600.
• If the tenant fails to accept or unreasonably rejects a landlord's proposed new rental agreement, the fixed term tenancy terminates on the ending date without further notice and the landlord may take possession through the eviction process, assuming the tenant does not vacate the space and remove the home.
• However, if the tenant surrenders possession of the space prior to the filing an eviction, he/she has the right to enter into a written storage agreement with the landlord, and then has the same rights and responsibilities of a lienholder during an abandonment, i.e. pay storage fees, maintain the space, and sell the home within six months [rather than 12 for lienholders]. See, ORS 90.675 (19).

Conclusion. My suggestion is that if your tenant is continually causing problems, paper your file thoroughly, showing the efforts you've made to work with that person. If there are complaints from other residents, document them. Eventually, the tenant will slip up - doing something that gives you the basis for an eviction. If he is a chronic late payer, consider using the three strikes law, found in ORS 90.630(8). Then find a good landlord attorney and discuss the best method to evict the tenant. You will then be armed with good evidence for the judge or jury to show that you walked the extra mile with this person, but they simply refused to cooperate. And remember that although there are restrictions on the contents of the new lease you offer, it may contain provisions that will give you a better foundation for the eviction. Good luck!

Footnote 1: This specific protection was important to the tenant lobby, since until it was enacted, there was an open question as to whether landlords could impose as a condition upon accepting an applicant who was purchasing an older home, that it must be removed upon subsequent resale. In addition, ORS 90.632 was enacted which permits landlords to expressly require that homes be repaired due to damage or deterioration.