"One toke over the line sweet Jesus One toke over the line Sittin' downtown in a railway station One toke over the line" ~ Brewer & Shipley, 1971. Background. Landlords in Oregon are understandably flummoxed by the new prescription drug du jour, medical marijuana. Why?

Question: I understand that the Oregon statutes now permit landlords to levy fines against tenants who violate the rules. Where is the statute and what does it say?

Question: A resident in our community has ants in her home. She says they are coming from the ground around the home and has had an exterminator out who confirms that the infestation is coming from the ground. The resident demands that we pay for the exterminator and that the infestation be controlled at the expense of management. WE do not believe it is our responsibility. What are your thoughts?

Question: I have a resident who was given permission to build a permanent carport. Most all of the carports in our park are free standing and permanent which is my preference. However, he constructed the permanent carport by boring holes in the ground and filling them with concrete and inserting metal mounts to which he fastened 4x4 uprights for the carport. Building it this way, in my opinion, made it part of the real property. I was there when construction started but was absent when it was completed. What now complicates matters is that he recently decided to sell the manufactured home, including the carport. This would not have been an issue had the buyer not planned on moving the home. I believe that since the carport is now permanently affixed to the ground, it cannot be sold as movable personal property along with the home. He also attached the carport to the manufactured home which may complicate things, as well. What are my rights here?

Question: A few years ago, a married couple originally applied together for residency in our community. They have since divorced and one of them has moved out. They qualified for occupancy based upon their joint income. The party retaining possession would clearly not qualify today. How do we deal with this?

Question: Our late fees have remained the same for several years, and we want to increase them. What are the current rules about doing so?

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: Our park does not have individual meters and at this point both the water and sewer on included in the monthly rent charge. Is there a method for billing back the sewer charges (no water) to the residents?

Question: The owner of a manufactured home community discovers that a temporary occupant in his community is stealing electrical power. PGE and the Portland Police have been out to the community and investigated the theft. He is also growing marijuana in the home but has a medical marijuana card. What notices does the landlord serve this household keeping in mind that he is the temporary occupant? Who does the notice go to, the occupant or the resident or both? The resident, who is the occupant's mother, shows no inclination to deal with this problem.

Question. As a park, we would like to purchase new manufactured homes to fill vacant lots. We would purchase them from the manufacturer, set them up, and probably list them through a real estate agent for the marketing. We would not handle the financing, especially under the complicated Dodd-Frank stuff, which would require the prospective purchaser to seek their own means of coming up with the funds to make the purchase. We would not "carry the paper." We assume that the real estate people are either MLO's themselves, or can point a prospective purchaser into the direction of a MLO. At this point, we believe that we have the financial portion on our side figured out, but run into a couple of legal questions that you may be able to help us with.

Today, I contacted the Oregon Division of Finance & Corporate Securities asking what type of Manufactured Structures Dealer ("MSD") license we would need to purchase new homes from a dealer and resell them within our park. He explained that the Limited MSD license would suffice. I told him that I had read that the limited MSD license authorized the selling of no more than 10 pre-owned manufactured structures during a calendar year, and that my understanding is only abandoned structures and dwellings purchased by the licensee and sited at the licensee's park at the time of sale fit under the LMSD license. I asked him if the sale of the structure "sited in the park" meant that when the park owner re-sold the unit the home was required to be sited in the park, or when the park owner purchased the home from the manufacturer the home needed to be already within the park. He told me that that was a good question that no one had asked before but still felt that a LMSD license would be okay.

Upon further checking I see that a MSD (not a Limited MSD) allows a business holding that license to sell new and used manufactured structures. Our questions are as follows:
ۢ What type of a Manufactured Structure License would we need to sell new homes that we have purchased from a dealership or manufacturer?
ۢ Can we as park even hold a MSD License?
ۢ Would our idea of placing the marketing of the home into the hands of a real estate agent release us from having to become or hire an independent MLO?