MHCO Legal Counsel

Question: What can the landlord do when water is obviously leaking from one of the resident's homes? And what if the leak is less obvious, e.g. from under the home?

Question: We issued a 30-60 day notice to a tenant to paint their home. Every tenant was sent a letter along with the notice requiring them to get prior approval for the paint color. This tenant did not get prior approval and painted his house a color that is too bright.

We have reached out to him several times requesting he come and discuss this with us and he has not responded. Extensions were given to August 31, 2018 for everyone who received a notice to paint, due to the extreme heat we had this summer. Some tenants have requested additional time and we have written agreements with them giving an additional 30 days until Sept 30, 2018.

We are making a final request to the uncooperative tenant to come to the office and talk with us. My question is would we be able to proceed under the 30-60 day disrepair notice, or do we start a new 30 day notice? He did paint like we asked him, but it was not a color approved by management.

Question: An existing resident who has been a good tenant in the past has currently had a life change that has resulted in multiple family members visiting daily, every week. Many of the visiting relatives appear to be associated with bad actors, e.g. drug dealers, etc., although much is hearsay. The visiting relatives are not living in the house. What steps can I take to get the unwanted guests off the property once and for all?

Question: A former resident who was a major problem while living here, voluntarily left the community and removed his home. However, he continues to visit the community and neighbors. This person has been seen on his old space (currently vacant and not in his possession) and also visiting existing tenants' spaces. Can I trespass this person from the community? If so, what grounds do I need to trespass someone?

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?

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?

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?"

Question: A tenant has asked for her daughter to be on a temporary occupant agreement. The tenant has recently been in the hospital and has returned home. She has not said she needs a caregiver at this point in time. The daughter is 40 years old and has three large dogs. She has applied to be a temporary occupant and has said that she will bring her dogs and if the park says 'no' she will get her attorney. Does the temporary occupant have rights? The park has a small dog policy - her dogs are clearly in violation. At this point there has been no mention of disability or request for reasonable accommodation. What are the landlord's rights? We suspect that the tenant will eventually say she needs at caregiver and hence the need for her daughter. At that point, once she has said "disability" or "caregiver" what are the landlord's rights? Can he say no to the daughter in both circumstances or only in first before the word "disability" or "caregiver" is mentioned?

Question. When vehicles are parked in "No Parking" areas within the community, should the manager just tow them, or pursue enforcement through fines? What is the best way to handle this issue?