MHCO Legal Counsel

Question. One of our residents is in the hospital after a stroke. Her sister arrived from California at the park and is staying at the stricken resident's house. The sister has a 5-year old daughter. The park is a 55+ community. The resident is completely incapacitated. Some residents are upset that a 5-year old is staying in the community. What is management's responsibility regarding the sister and daughter's access to our resident's house? A temporary occupant agreement requires the signature of the resident, who, in this case, is not available. And the landlord is not even sure if the sister has permission from the resident. Finally, what about the 5 year old? What should be the landlord's course of action?

Question: What are a landlord's rights against a lender holding a lien on the tenant's home following the tenant's abandonment? We have a lender who signed the storage agreement, but has failed to maintain the space. What notice should the landlord give? Do we have to start the abandonment notification all over again?

Question. I am always concerned about what my rights are as a manager when I go upon a resident's space. Can you clarify for me?

Question. What type of fees and deposits am I allowed to require of new residents when they move into the community?

Question: A few years ago, a married couple originally applied together for residency in our community. Based on their combined credit scores, they were both approved for residency. They have since divorced and one of them has moved out. How do we deal with this? We have several questions listed below.

Question.  Following your article on screening for criminal history, I’m needing some help digesting all the Do’s and Don’ts.  Are there any recent visual aids that might help?

Question: An occupant lives in a home that is sub leased from her father. The father, who is the official tenant on the lease, does not live in the home. The occupant (sub lease tenant) has been in the house since the beginning of January. The occupant was asked at the time to complete and submit a criminal background check, but refused. So the occupant is living there as an unauthorized person. The father has given the occupant (his daughter) an eviction notice. They went to court, and the judge told them to come back in two weeks. This morning the occupant gave the community owner a money order for February rent. What should the community owner do with the money order. Should it be returned? Should the community owner issue a 24 hour notice since the occupant is there without another person in the home having signed a rental agreement? Or should the community owner give a no cause eviction?

Question. As a manager, do I have the ability to terminate the tenancy of a current resident who committed a crime outside of the community?

Question. I understand that there are certain regulations dealing with our ability to sell formerly abandoned homes. How will this affect me?

Background. On April 4, 2016, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued its “Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions” (hereinafter, the “Memo”). The full text of the 10-page Memo can be found here. Not surprisingly, it follows the June 25, 2015 ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court, in the Texas Dept. of Housing vs. Inclusive Communities case, which upheld the much-debated concept of “disparate impact” under the Fair Housing Act, as amended (the Act”).