MHCO Legal Counsel

Question: I have a tenant that I issued a 72 Hour Non-Payment of Rent notice to last month. When I served it she told me that she is a victim of domestic violence and would provide me a copy of the restraining order, she also told me that she would have her attorney contact me. Neither occurred. She paid her rent by the final date on the notice. She hasn't paid rent yet this month. I still have no copies of a restraining order, nor has her husband informed me that he has moved out. She is the only one to tell me about domestic violence. I just served her with another 72 hour notice. She is upset and yelled that I can't evict her because she is still dealing with issues as a victim of domestic violence. She also told me that she now has two attorneys and that she will have them both call me. I informed her to read the notice carefully as rent will need to be paid by the 13th or I would file in court on the 14th.
My question is this: Is domestic violence a recognized defense to non-payment of rent?

Question: A drone is flying around our manufactured housing community and is peering into residents' homes and backyards. The manager wants to serve a 30 day notice but is concerned about how you link the perpetrator to the drone. Any suggestions on how to handle this?

 

 

 

 

Question: A resident stops by the manager's office on the 5th of the month and offers to pay $150 of the $350 of rent that is due, and promising to pay the remaining $200 by the 15thof the month. The tenant claims that the landlord mustaccept the partial payment. What are the landlord's options? Can the landlord refuse the partial payment? Where do you draw the line - say a 72 hour notice has been issued - does that change the partial payment scenario?

 

Question: We have a 55+ park, with 100 spaces. 90 of them are occupied by at least one person who is age 55 or older. A tenant who is selling her home has a potential buyer who is 47. They qualify in all respects, except age. Am I prevented from accepting this prospective tenant because he is not at least 55 years of age?

 

Question: If a manager is going to give a resident their third 72-hour notice within 12 months, does the manager give the 72-hour notice and then wait for payment, which if the resident pays then serve the 30 day three strikes notice?

 

 

 

Question: We are currently dealing with an abandoned home where the tenant has passed away and he was in a "Senior Tax Deferral" program through the Oregon Dept. of Revenue ("DOR"). According to our county tax collector the deceased tenant's account is current, since the DOR has paid them ever since the tenant entered the program in 1999. A title search on the home has the DOR listed as a lien holder.

My question is if and when the abandoned property is sold at a private auction and we (the Landlord) win with the highest sealed bid, are we liable for the taxes in the program? Are they considered already paid? Is the DOR simply a lien holder or are they considered a tax collector? Side note: According to the tax collector, this home is valued at approximately $20,000.

 

 

 

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. The purpose of this article is to set forth the applicable laws governing the process, and discuss some tips and traps that may be useful when certain issues and problems arise.

 

 

 

 

 

Question:  Can management require of a resident selling their home in the community that the space be removed of all attachments and outbuildings that were added upon initial occupancy? E.g. the removal of all decking, sun rooms etc.?  What kind of notice does the landlord give while the home is up for sale with potential buyers are considering the home with these amenities?  Can the landlord restrict colors for the home and even restrict the size and type of fencing?  How does this all fit into the new law on disrepair and deterioration passed by the legislature in 2017 (SB277)?

 

Question: A landlord served a resident a 30 day notice (MHCO Form 43) for driving their motorcycle through the park and creating a lot of noise that disturbed the other residents. The landlord served the resident (who was driving the motorcycle) with a 30 notice for violation of the rules. Now that same resident is driving even louder through the park to spite the landlord. What can the landlord do? Can he evict sooner, since the same violation has occurred before the 30 notice expired? How do you handle a violation within this 30 day period? I understand that after 30 days you can give a 20 day notice (MHCO Form 44) that is non curable if substantially the same violation occurs again within 6 months.

 

 

 

 

Question No. 1. Our community recently had a rule that permitted street parking from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM). The rule was changed and now prohibits any street parking at any time. The reason for the new rule was due to the narrowness of the streets which prevented emergency vehicles clear access. The rule change passed with no objections. Since the adoption of the new rule we have had a handful of residents and their guests who refuse to follow the new policy and a few residents who have hinted that they need a reasonable accommodation.

 

The first reasonable accommodation request is from a resident who says it "inconvenient" for herself and her caretaker(s) to shuffle cars in the driveway. The driveway accommodates two vehicles. The resident has one car and the caretakers and they must park end-to-end. Since the caretakers alternate shifts, there are only two vehicles in the driveway at the same time.

One caretakers seems to abide by the rules but the other will not. The caretaker who refuses to follow the rule says she is handicapped and has a handicap parking permit. She says we must allow her to park on the street. Are we required to provide on-street parking spot for a nonresident, handicapped or not? If there are two spots available in the resident's driveway can they refuse to park in the driveway just because they don't want to move vehicles and say that's a reasonable accommodation?

Question No. 2. The other potential request for an accommodation is from a resident who only has room for one vehicle in her driveway because she installed a handicap ramp that took away her second parking spot. The resident parks in the driveway and the caretaker parks on the street in front of the house because it is more "convenient" than using the guest parking which is a little walk away.

If this resident requests a reasonable accommodation for her caretaker or herself to park on the street do we have to designate another street parking spot?

It seems like both these requests are for the benefit of the caretakers not the residents. Do we have to accommodate the non-resident caretakers, handicapped or not, because it's requested?