Question. A couple of posts ago, I addressed a questions regarding the roots of a non-hazard tree located on the resident's space interfering with their sewer line.

There were some follow-up questions I will address below. However, here's the caveat: This is not legal advice, and community owners and managers should confer with their own legal counsel. Also, my answers are merely my opinions, and others have every right to disagree. Who is ultimately right is up to the judge before whom the matter is submitted.

Here are the follow-up questions:

A tree that was never known by anyone including the tenant, or the landlord, to be considered a "hazard tree" prior to a windstorm, later falls and does no damage. This tree was neither planted by the current tenant, nor the community.[1]

Question No. 1. Given that there was no negligence by anyone, is the damage done by the windstorm considered an Act of God?

Question No. 2. With the tree now uprooted and lying on the ground, does it now present a hazard or meet the definition of a "hazard tree" thereby shifting the obligation to "maintain" a hazard tree to the Landlord?

Question No. 3. Does maintaining a tree include tree removal?

Question No. 4. Who is legally responsible to pay the expenses associated with the disposal of the tree?

Answer. Wow! Asking me if God caused a windstorm could get me in trouble. What if I'm wrong?

Question. Recently the insurance company for our manufactured home community inspected the community. Afterwards I received a notice in the mail from the insurer that they would terminate the insurance on the park unless a trampoline owned by one of the home owners was removed. The trampoline is located within the resident's fenced-in space. The park rules do not mention trampolines or playground items like swings. Since there are no rules addressing this how do I go forward trying to remove the trampoline if the home owner is not cooperative?

Question - A tenant's son has a conviction for sex abuse and is still on parole. He was living with his father in the community until neighbors found out about his conviction and began complaining about his presence because this is a family park with many children. We informed the son's father that he would have to leave due to his conviction. He did leave but now he is doing odd jobs here in the park. He also comes into the park to visit his family. We are getting resident complaints because people are still concerned for their children. Is there anything I can do as a manager to keep this man out of our community?

Question: Most of our RV guests are long-term tenants with month-to-month rental agreements. Many have been here for some time. What are the rules for raising rent?

Question: My question is about which notice for my situation, a 30-day for cause or a deterioration & repair notices. A long term resident has constructed a few different makeshift structures including a shed carport/garage and an add-on room attached to his home. All of these have been in place more than 12 months but past park ownership didn't mind. All of the structures were built without permission, contrary to his rental agreement, and without building permits from the city (also contrary to his rental agreement) and none of the structures conform to local building code that requires permits. We are not requesting that the resident re-build the structures during a specific time frame - we want the structures removed. Because these structures have been in place for more than 12 months do we need to give him a deterioration notice allowing up to a 6 months extension for them to be removed or can/should we give him a 30-day for cause notice?

Question. We have a grandmother in the park who takes care of an 8 month old grandchild while the mother works full time during the day. The mother of baby does not live in the park. The grandmother also takes care of an 11-year old girl during summer break while the mother works. The grandmother states the children do not stay overnight at her house and that the daughter picks them up after she gets off work. The grandmother does not "babysit" for money as these are her own daughter's kids.

The grandmother's husband passed away and a sister of the grandmother has since moved in and they are both on a new rental agreement as of Oct. 2014.

Our park rules state additional occupants must be age 40 or over and that guests/relatives can stay overnight for 30 days out of the year only.

What is your opinion on this situation? Should I tell the grandmother she is ok to watch over the children or should she be told she cannot babysit over 30 days per year? Or, is it OK for her to babysit the kids if they are not staying overnight at the house. I'm not clear on this issue and

our park owner and myself wish to get your opinion before we proceed.

Answer. I'm confused. May I assume the grandmother or her sister are at least 55 years old? If so, they qualify both as to the requirement that there be at least one occupant 55+, and as to the second person requirement. That should be the end of the age issue.

As for the babysitting, this is not a for-profit enterprise, so presumably does not violate any rules you might have for such situations. So all it is is family visiting, which is permissible under the rules. So long as the children are not staying overnight, I do not understand there to be a 30-day limit on this. If they do stay overnight, it appears there is a 30-day cap. But you don't say whether the 30-days is consecutive or cumulative. Unless there is some reason to believe the grandmother is lying about the children staying overnight (and even then, there is the 30-day rule) I don't see anything that suggests a violation. I know of nothing under the 55+ housing law that places restrictions on family visitors under age 55. In fact, as you may know, 55+ parks are permitted to have up to 20% of their spaces rented to families (which is not something should consider for a variety of reasons). However, the point is that the presence of children in a 55+ park does not, per se' cause the park to lose its 55+ designation.

I believe this situation demands a practical approach. Is the babysitting situation causing a problem, e.g. noise, disruption, children in street, lack of supervision, etc? Are other residents complaining? If none of these consequences are occurring, I don't see a concern, or a need to start counting days, etc. If the situation is not being abused, I'd leave it alone. You may want to privately discuss this with the grandmother, just to make sure she understands that it is important that she monitor her grandchildrens' activity at all times, just to make sure other (less child-friendly) residents don't complain.

The take-away here is that while rules are important, so long as they are not being abused, the need to be concerned primarily arises when there are complaints from other residents. If no one is complaining and the rules are not being blatantly abused, it does not seem necessary to become concerned.

Question. Recently I learned that a resident/homeowner in our community had entered the military and was in basic training. The serviceman's partner is living in their home in our manufactured home community. The partner came to speak with me about selling their house as the partner will be moving to whatever base the serviceman is assigned, when basic training is completed. They are thinking they will sell in September. We don't know whether the Oregon Landlord-Tenant Law has any special provisions for service members. What can you tell us?

What is Marketing?

Let's first look at what Webster has to say about the meaning of "marketing" -- (1) the act or process of buying and selling in a market; and (2) the commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer. A more commercial definition of marketing that might be found in a high school or college text could read something like this: "creating a sale with the consumer for your product and/or service."

Then, let's look at Webster's definition of "promoting" -- (1) to forward or further, to encourage, to advance; (2) to raise to a more important rank, to contribute to the progress or growth of, to urge adoption of or advocate; and (3) to attempt to sell or popularize by advertising or by securing financial support. Again, a more commercial definition of promoting might be something like: "bringing the consumer to your product and/or service."

These definitions tell us that we need to be involved in both promoting and marketing! It is the act of promoting that creates enthusiasm and brings us the traffic. It is the act of marketing that defines the sale of a home or signing of a lease. Without both of these tools in your toolkit, you would have a really hard time filling, re-filling, or upgrading your community.

Question. We would like to institute a policy allowing us to do a background check on all guests who stay at a property for 14 days or more. Is there something in ORS Chapter 90 that gives the landlord this right? Would this have to be in the rental agreement or rules? Is it enforceable?

Question. I read some articles that MHCO published about trees, but am still seeking a little clarification about tree roots. Our situation is this: A long term resident has a very large tree on their space. I don't believe the tree was planted by them or their family. It is not a hazardous tree but does have a DBH of more than 8". The tenant recently reported a blockage with the sewer lateral on their space (not the main park line). We hired a company to clear the blockage which was tree roots. Is the park owner or the resident responsible for tree roots growing underground that affect a resident's plumbing? Is the resident's sewer lateral (and other underground utilities for that matter) considered their personal property and the repair or upkeep to keep roots clear the park owners responsibility? Any clarification you can provide is much appreciated.