It has happened to everyone; you pick up the phone smiling with your cheerful greeting only to have the person on the other end start yelling before you can even get your name out. Maybe you are out walking your property and a resident confronts you about their annoying neighbor and wants to know "what are you going to do about it? "Or, you are in your office with a prospect when your most demanding resident bursts in demanding to speak with you. Sound familiar?

Simply put, controlling conflict is part of the job. Residents, Prospects, Vendors, and even other team members can be sources of conflict for us. Conventional wisdom (and research) says that good communication can improve relationships, increasing trust and support. The converse is also true: poor communication can weaken bonds, creating mistrust and even contempt.

If we know that communication is the key to eliminating, or at least minimizing conflict, why can it be so difficult? It's typically because we have a very clear idea of "our side" of the argument. To solve a problem, it helps to stop for a moment to wonder what the other person us thinking. Here are some tips:

Question: We have been informed by the State that it is illegal to have air conditioners in the windows of a home in our community. We are concerned that many residents in the community are unable to put a unit in a window that is not visible from the street or neighbors. Many of our residents are senior citizens that cannot afford to replace window units with portable inside units. As management can we allow air conditioning units in the window? Is there a state law governing this?

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.

HUD recently announced it’s charging a Texas property owner and management company with discriminating against families with children. HUD alleges that the owners and its management company threatened to fine a family $250 because their two children played in the community area of the complex.

Question: In regards to rules changes, I see two problematic scenarios: (1) Parks that post a new rule in a common area that either overrides an existing rule or is an additional rule not covered in residents' current rules and regs; and (2) Parks that send residents a new set of rules and regs without providing any notice about resident opportunity to object to such new rules and regs. In both scenarios, management fails to give notice required under 90.610. In the first scenario, management not only fails to inform residents of their opportunity to object, they are not even complying with the basic notice requirement in 90.155since they are only posting in a common space where residents hopefully will see it. Can you comment?

Question: In the past I have always worked successfully with residents on HUD housing vouchers (Section 8), but I have a resident who is now 2 months behind due to HUD not following through with payments. If this keeps happening, do I have to continue to allow Section 8 vouchers, or is it ultimately the responsibility of the resident to get us the rent on time!

Question: We always ask for a picture of the prospective tenant and all occupants, their RV (if applying to our RV portion of the park), their pets, and the tow vehicle prior to looking at an application. Is this legal? If not, should I destroy all the pictures we have on file? Is it ever legal to have pictures of residents etc. in the files? Would it be better if we did it after the application was reviewed and accepted?

Question: We have submeters to all of the resident spaces in our community for sewer and water. But common area sewer/water was not submetered. We would like to do so now. We are planning to look at the trailing 12 months' numbers in each of these three categories, and dividing those numbers by 12 months, and then dividing those number by the number of sites in our community (175). So my question is: How much notice do we have to give our residents in order to pass this amount thru to them?

ORS 90.510(4) provides:

Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide a written rental agreement, except as provided by ORS 90.710 (Causes of action)(2)(d). The agreement must be signed by the landlord and tenant and may not be unilaterally amended by one of the parties to the contract except by:

1. Mutual agreement of the parties;

1. Actions taken pursuant to ORS 90.530 (Pets in facilities), 90.533 (Conversion of billing method for garbage collection and disposal), 90.537 (Conversion of billing method for utility or service charges), 90.543 (Utility or service charge billing for large manufactured dwelling parks) (3), 90.600 (Increases in rent), 90.725 (Landlord or agent access to rented space) (3)(f) and (7) or 90.727 (Maintenance of trees in rented spaces); or

1. Those provisions required by changes in statute or ordinance. (Emphasis added.)

In a recent Oregon Court of Appeals case, the full impact of these "unilateral" amendment provisions became the subject of scrutiny that (unless appealed and overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court) should serve as a cautionary warning for park owners and managers.

Question: A resident died last month in our community, leaving three adult daughters. Two of the daughters have been issued "No Trespassing" notices from management because of past bad behavior. One of the daughters barred from the community is the executor of the will. The manager has changed the locks on the home. The three daughters have demanded entry to remove items and provided our manager with the will. The daughters do not get along. What can our manager do? Set specific times for them to enter and remove items? The daughters are angry at our manager and each other - accusing the manager of removing items from the home as well as blaming each other. Last night they surrounded our manager and verbally abused her. What are the manager's rights? Does she have to let them on the property? Does she need to record everything that is removed from the home? How does she handle the two daughters who have been trespassed from the community?