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Mistake #1: Rent increases

A lot of times owners act as if below market rent is the same as earning a merit badge. It isn’t. Having under market rent loses you money every month. If the property ever goes on the market, it will sell for less and maybe a lot less. Today a tenant isn’t going to move because the rent goes up to market. Most tenants know what the rents are at other mobile home parks (often having better market rent intel than the owner). They won’t be surprised when the rent goes up to market. If the owner is doing a good job of operating the mobile home park, higher rent won’t be cause to move. When doing a rent increase, include the rent survey for your market, showing the rent charged at other communities. Also, be sure to factor in the water, sewer and garbage, if included in the lot rent. The water and sewer are probably $30–$60 per month per house- hold, depending on the city, and the garbage is probably $9–$15 per month per occupied site. If you are paying for these, consider how you may pass these utilities through. Be sure to factor in an estimate of water, sewer and garbage for the owners that pay it or the tenants.

Mistake #2: Rent Survey

What should the rent be? Not that many owners do annual rent surveys. If you have a manager, that should be their job. If there are owners of multiple mobile home parks in your market, look to their rents as a benchmark of the real rent. After all, these companies have to report earnings to shareholders or investors. They can’t succeed by charging above market rents.

Mistake #3: Holding On Too Long

When you have a park owned home that isn’t selling, it’s time to let go, and get it sold or rented. Anyone that has been in this industry for a while and sells homes knows what it feels like to have an unsold mobile home that sits month after month with no offers. You market it, keep utilities on, pay insurance and cleaning, the staff shows it countless times and nothing. It’s time to cut the price (ouch!) or do whatever needs to be done to sell the home. Each month that passes is another month of rent you’ll never recover.

The same thing is true for mobile home park ownership. Sometimes the mobile home park property looks great on paper. After you actually own it, you find it’s not your cup of tea. Maybe it’s too far away from your office, the demand for homes isn’t good, or a major employer shuts down, to name a few reasons why investors sell a mobile home park. In Warren Buffet’s 2014 Letter To Investors, he freely writes about big mistakes he made early on with Berkshire Hathaway; mistakes that might have been deadly for the company. In fact, the Berkshire company (a textile company) which became the Berkshire of Berkshire Hathaway, closed 18 years after Mr. Buffet acquired it, and he writes, “During all of those 18 years, we struggled unremittingly, all to no avail. But stubbornness —stupidity—has its limits....I finally threw in the towel and closed the operation.” Mr. Buffet goes on to say that he knew the Berkshire company acquisition “... was a mistake. Having committed much of (the company’s) resources...I quickly compounded the error by continuing to invest in a business that eventually became the most costly of my career.” If the Sage of Omaha can admit to millions of followers that he blundered, then perhaps business owners and investors should take a page out of Mr. Buffet’s playbook and cut the cord when something isn’t working, be it a park owned home OR a park.

Mistake #4: Financing

There is a lot of refinancing and new loan action today. Why? The low interest rates plus the threat of rising interest rates are the reasons. The Federal Reserve has been making noise for what seems like years, about increasing the interest rates. As the economy improves and the jobless recovery continues to dissipate, the

Federal Reserve finally raised interest rates in late December of 2015. Not all lenders are the same though, and finding a lender, whether it be local, regional or national will make a big difference in both the amount financed (dollars to you!) and the ease of the transaction.

Mistake #5: Records

Today there is truly user friendly and effective software for mobile home parks. I use Rent Manager and so do a lot of other mobile home park owners. For your own peace of mind do yourself, your accountant, your manager and a buyer a big favor, and invest in good software (it’s not that much money). A couple of years ago, I hired a property manager with no accounting background. She took to Rent Manager like a duck to water. My accountant is also a big fan. Don’t be intimidated by upping your game with great software.

Mistake #6: Survey, Phase I and Appraisal

Once upon a time, when you acquired your property, you might have had the property surveyed, appraised and a Phase I (California) environmental assessment done. If you didn’t order these reports, whoever you bought from may have left them in the office or the survey may have been recorded. Try checking with the county recorder or county engineer. These re- ports will save you money and time if you ever need to update them, or your heirs or a buyer require them. It’s faster and cheaper, for example, if the land surveyor has an existing survey to start with.

Mistake #7: Water and Sewer

Please do something about this, both for your cash flow and the environment. These pesky leaks can be tough to find. Some of the large owners use American Leak Detection (Google it —they have regional offices). They are not cheap, but they will find your leaks and fix them. Water leaks are expensive; it is money you won’t ever recover. One time I sold a mobile home park where the owner knew he had a water leak to the tune of about an extra $2,000 per month. This was a small mobile home park. When he sold the park, a condition of the sale was to find the water leak(s) and fix them. By then, he really wanted to sell his park because his company (not the mobile home park business) was growing and the business re- quired his full attention. The upshot was that after losing at least $40,000 in water costs he hired two companies (the first company didn’t find it) about $3,000 to find the leak and another couple of thousand for the second company to fix the leak. The moral of the story is that you will never get back the wasted water bills, so it’s best to bite the bullet and find and fix the leaks.

Joanne Stevens is a real estate broker specialist in listing and selling mobile home parks and manufactured home communities throughout the U.S.

She can be reached at 319.378.6785 phone; 319.365.9833 fax; and email: joannestevens@ joannemstevens.com

This article was recently published in WMA's February 2016 "Reporter".  MHCO would like to express our deep appreciation to WMA for allowing MHCO to upload this article to MHCO.ORG.

Answer: First, remember that if the resident who is occupying the home is NOT the owner of the home, the manufactured housing section of the Oregon landlord-tenant law (ORS 90.505 et seq.) does NOT apply. This means that the applicable law is that which applies to tenants in apartments and single family homes. This portion of the landlord tenant law is more landlord-favorable - at least in terms of timing. MHCO is currently in the process of developing a form for abandoned personal property, other than manufactured homes located inside of parks.

In this case, ORS 90.425 applies. Although this is the abandonment law, it is limited to such things as personal property, motor vehicles, RVs, and manufactured homes not located in a park. If you have ever done an abandonment of a home in your community, ORS 90.675 applies. Although the protocols are much the same, there are some material differences. Here is a summary of the law addressing your question:

1. Automobiles.
   1. You must determine if there are any lienholders;
   2. You must also determine if the owner of the vehicle is different that the deceased resident;
   3. You must send a written abandonment letter[1]:
      1. By first class mail to the deceased tenant at the premises[2];
      2. Personally deliver or send it by first class mail to any heir, devisee, personal representative or designated person, if actually known to the landlord; and
      3. Sent it by first class mail to the attention of an estate administrator of the Department of State Lands.
   4. The letter must give the heir, devisee, or personal representative of designated person, not less than 45 days to notify the landlord of their intent to claim the vehicle(s), and allow them not more than 15 days (or such longer period as agreed to by the parties) to actually pick it/them up.
   5. If the recipient does not pick up the vehicle(s), the landlord may sell it/them at a public or private sale, or if the reasonable current fair market value is $1,000 or less or so low that the cost of storage and conducting a public sale probably exceeds the amount that would be realized from the sale, may sell certain items and destroy or otherwise dispose of the remaining personal property.
   6. The vehicle(s) may be stored at the space, or stored at a commercial storage company, or other place of safekeeping;
   7. NOTE: This is an abbreviated version of the process, and should not undertaken without expert assistance.
2. All Other Personal Property
   1. The written notice of abandonment must be sent to the same persons as for the vehicle(s);
   2. The heir, devisee, or personal representative of designated person must be given not less than five (5) days if the notice is personally delivered, or eight (8) days if mailed, to notify the landlord if they intend to pick up the personal property, and not more than fifteen (15) days (or such longer period as agreed to by the parties) to actually pick it up.
   3. If the personal property is not picked up, the same protocol applies as fore vehicle(s);
   4. The personal property may be stored at the space, or stored at a commercial storage company or other place of safekeeping[3];

A word of caution: Until the letter is sent, both of the abandonment statutes, ORS 90.425 and ORS 90.675, are not clear about the landlord's legal responsibility for "safekeeping" of a resident's abandoned property. However, there is no question that the landlord does have that responsibility once the abandonment has been declared by issuance of the letter.

This means that you can secure the personal property, either by removing it from the home, or, in this case, with the owner's consent, secure it in the home, and prohibiting access. The reason I bring this up is because you mentioned that the foster brothers gained access to the home and apparently removed what they wanted.

Yet, ORS 90.425(21) provides:

(d) The landlord shall allow a person that is an heir, devisee or personal representative of the tenant, or an estate administrator of the department, to remove the personal property if the person contacts the landlord within the period provided by [ORS 90.425(25)], complies with the requirements of this section and provides the landlord with reasonable evidence that the person is an heir, devisee or personal representative, or an estate administrator of the department. (Emphasis added.)

(e) If neither an heir, devisee nor personal representative of the tenant, nor an estate administrator of the department, contacts the landlord *** the landlord shall allow removal of the personal property by the designated person of the tenant, if the designated person contacts the landlord within that period and complies with the requirements of this section and provides the landlord with reasonable evidence that the person is the designated person.

(f) A landlord who allows removal of personal property under this subsection is not liable to another person that has a claim or interest in the personal property. (Emphasis added.)

Subsection (f) is as important for what it doesn'tsay, as what it does, i.e. the landlord's failure to follow the statute could result in liability, e.g. to the heirs, etc., whose property was released to persons not so entitled.

So the take-away here is this: In the case of residents living alone, park records should be updated to determine (a) if there is a will; and (b) who should be notified in the event of death or disability.

And lastly, rather than allowing various persons entry into the home of a deceased resident, it is more prudent to immediately send out an abandonment letter, which gives you automatic power to "secure" the decedent's personal property, until the proper persons can be identified to remove it.

If the resident owned the home, you would have proceeded under ORS 90.675 (for abandoned homes in a park), which is much the same as ORS 90.425 (for personal property only), except that in the case of abandoned homes in parks, the 45-day letter gives the estate 30 days to remove the home or enter into a storage agreement, for its resale; and since the home is subject to a personal property tax, the tax assessor and/or collector would have to be notified with the 45-day letter.

[1] The information contained in this letter is much the same as that when a manufactured home is abandoned in a park. See, ORS 90.425(5).

[2] The notice must refer to the heir, devisee, personal representative, designated person or estate administrator of the department, instead of the deceased resident.

[3] If the deceased resident owned the home, the personal property could be stored there, as well.

Answer: Landlords should become intimately familiar with ORS 90.680, and then make sure their rules and rental agreements conform to what is allowed. Set forth below is a summary of those portions of the statute that address your questions:

• If the prospective purchaser of a manufactured dwelling or floating home desires to leave the dwelling or home on the rented space and become a tenant, the landlord may require the following:
  • That a tenant give not more than 10 days' notice in writing prior to the sale of the dwelling or home on a rented space;
  • That prior to the sale, the prospective purchaser submit to the landlord a complete and accurate written application for occupancy of the dwelling or home as a tenant after the sale is finalized;
  • That a prospective purchaser may not occupy the dwelling or home until after the prospective purchaser is accepted by the landlord as a tenant;
  • That a tenant give notice to any lienholder, prospective purchaser or person licensed to sell dwellings or homes of the requirements of the resale requirements [Emphasis mine - PCQ];
  • If the sale is not by a lienholder, that the prospective purchaser pay in full all rents, fees, deposits or charges owed by the tenant prior to the landlord's acceptance of the prospective purchaser as a tenant [Emphasis mine];
• If the landlord's rules and/or rental agreement requires prospective purchasers to submit an application for occupancy as a tenant, at the time that the landlord gives the prospective purchaser an application the landlord shall also give the prospective purchaser copies of the statement of policy, the rental agreement and the facility rules and regulations, including any conditions imposed on a subsequent sale[1];
• The following conditions apply if a landlord receives an application for tenancy from a prospective purchaser:
  • The landlord shall accept or reject the prospective purchaser's application within seven days following the day the landlord receives a complete and accurate written application[2];
  • An application is not complete until the prospective purchaser pays any required applicant screening charge and provides the landlord with all information and documentation, including any financial data and references, required by the landlord;
• The landlord may not unreasonably reject a prospective purchaser as a tenant. Reasonable cause for rejection includes, but is not limited to:
  • Failure of the prospective purchaser to meet the landlord's conditions for approval;
  • Failure of the prospective purchaser's references to respond to the landlord's timely request for verification within the time allowed for acceptance or rejection;
  • In most cases, the landlord must furnish to the seller and purchaser a written statement of the reasons for any rejection[3];
• The landlord may give the tenant selling the home a notice to repair the home [e.g. for damage or deterioration] under ORS 90.632. The landlord may also give any prospective purchaser a copy of that notice.
  • The landlord may require as a condition of tenancy that a prospective purchaser who desires to leave the dwelling or home on the rented space and become a tenant must comply with the repair notice within the allowed period under ORS 90.632.
  • If the tenancy has been terminated for failure to timely complete the repairs under ORS 90.632, a prospective purchaser does not have a right to leave the dwelling or home on the rented space and become a tenant.

Obviously, the statute was drafted with tenant/purchasers in mind. However, as long as the home remains on the space, the landlord has complete control over the situation. In your case, I suspect the delinquent tenant made no effort to notify the landlord of his planned sale to the dealer. However, that does not prevent him from imposing these requirements on the dealer if he wants to put a tenant in the park.

Going forward, it might be advisable for all landlords who have faced this situation before, to prepare a summary of requirements to give dealers when they purchase homes from tenants already sited in the park. They may want to expressly address this in their rules, so tenants cannot say they didn'tknow. The written summary to dealers should clearly state that if a departing tenant owes monies to the landlord, repayment will be required before occupancy of the home will be permitted by a new resident. [A more difficult question that is not addressed by the statute, ORS 90.680, is whether the landlord may prevent the dealer from removing the home without paying the past due sums. I suspect the answer may be "Yes" a landlord may do so, but it would require my examination of the statutory storage or retaining lien rights, which is beyond the scope of this question. - PCQ]

[1] The terms of the statement of policy, rental agreement and rules and regulations need not be the same as those in the selling tenant's statement, rental agreement and rules and regulations.

[2] The landlord and the prospective purchaser may agree to a longer time period beyond seven day for the landlord to evaluate the prospective purchaser's application or to allow the prospective purchaser to address any failure to meet the landlord's screening or admission criteria. If a tenant has not previously given the landlord the required advance 10 days' notice, the period provided for the landlord to accept or reject a complete and accurate written application is extended to 10 days.

[3] If a rejection is based upon a consumer report (as defined in 15 U.S.C. 1681a) for purposes of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the landlord may not disclose the contents of the report to anyone other than the purchaser. In such cases, the landlord is to disclose to the seller in writing that the rejection is based upon information contained in a consumer report and that the landlord may not disclose the information contained in the report.

Answer:   This is a good question, and all too frequently ignored by owners and managers. The first question is whether the issue is addressed anywhere in the community documents, i.e. the statement of policy, rules, or rental agreement. Likely not. It really isn’t addressed in the Oregon Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, with the exception of ORS 90.222, which covers renter’s liability insurance, and is excluded from the manufactured housing section of the law. 

Strictly speaking, the fact that the home was destroyed and is likely uninhabitable does not make it any less of a resident responsibility than before the fire. In other words, it is the resident’s primary responsibility to either promptly repair, replace, or remove the home.  The space is still under lease or rental to the resident, so all of the same rules apply, i.e. to keep it in good condition and safe. If the home is nothing more than a shell, the resident should likely remove it as soon as possible.

If the resident does not have fire insurance to repair or replace the home, I suspect he or she will abandon it, thus making it your problem - or the problem of the lienholder if there is one.  Incidentally, if there is a lienholder, the loan documents likely require fire insurance, and that it be a named insured on the policy.  If that is the case, then hopefully, between the resident and their insurance company, there may be available proceeds to repair or replace.[1]

If the resident abandons the home, you should immediately send out a 45-day abandonment letter, thus triggering your right (and duty) to take control of the personal property.  It is likely an attractive nuisance for children, which could result in injury to them, and liability to you.  In such case, you should consider having it either cordoned off with “No Trespassing” signs, or removed.  Make sure that you independently confirm that it is a total loss, and with no salvage value.  If there is salvage value, it belongs to the resident.

following my article titled “Home Fire in the Community” I received an email from John Van Landingham with a ‘gentle reminder’ that “…you might want to add that, if a governmental agency posts the burned-out home as constituting a health hazard, the abandoned property timelines can be shortened. ORS 90.675 (21).” John was – as usual – absolutely correct.  Below is an amplification of my earlier post.

ORS 90.675 is the abandonment law that applies generally to homes located in manufactured housing communities. Today it contains 23 separate subsections, a behemoth in size compared to most statutes.  Buried 21 sections down in the subterranean recesses of the statute is that portion of the law dealing with health, safety and welfare issues, in which 45 day letters and 30 response periods could not possibly work. In such situations, time is of the essence.  Accordingly, subsection 21 sets forth a fast-track protocol for declaring the abandonment of a home that poses certain risks to others (such as the abandoned shell of a home destroyed by fire). Below is a summary of what this subsection says:

If a governmental agency determines that the condition of the abandoned  home constitutes an extreme health or safety hazard under state or local law and the agency determines that the hazard endangers others in the facility and requires quick removal of the property, the landlord may sell or dispose of it by taking the following steps[2]:

• The date by which a tenant, lienholder, personal representative or designated person must contact a landlord to arrange for the disposition of the property shall not be less than 15 days after personal delivery or mailing of the abandonment letter required by ORS 90.675(3);
• The date by which a tenant, lienholder, personal representative or designated person must remove the property must be not less than seven (7) days after the date the tenant, lienholder, personal representative or designated person issues the abandonment letter;
• The contents of the abandonment letter must be in accordance with ORS 90.675(5), except that:
  • The dates and deadlines in the notice must be consistent with the fast-track protocol above;
  • The abandonment letter must state that a governmental agency has determined that the property constitutes an extreme health or safety hazard and must be removed quickly; and
  • The landlord must attach a copy of the agency’s determination to the abandonment letter.

[1] Note that the MHCO Rental and Lease Agreements do have a provision for the resident to maintain fire insurance, but it is optional, and applies only if the box is checked.  This situation should be a cautionary tale for owners and managers requiring such insurance, with proof that it is being maintained.

[2] Note: the following steps are exceptions to the rest of ORS 90.675.  This means that if there is no exception in this list, the rest of the statute will apply.

In order to comply with Oregon Law, and to provide accurate records, there are several forms that are to be completed when the applicant is accepted to become a resident in the community. These forms should be completed after you have reviewed the resident's application, and completed all background checks and tenant screening, but before the resident moves into their home.

Copies of the following forms should be given to the new resident:

• Copy of signed Rental Application
• Copy of signed Rental Agreement signed by both manager and new resident
• Copy of Park "Rules and Regulations" signed by the new resident
• Copy RV Storage Agreement if applicable.
• Copy of Pet Agreement if applicable
• Copy of "Statement of Policy" signed by the new resident
• Copy of Receipt of Statement of Policy
• Copy of Rental History Addendum to Statement of Policy
• Flood Plain Notice

The following documents should be in the new resident's office file:

• Signed "Reciept of Statement of Policy" (signed before signing rental agreement)
• Signed Rental Application
• Signed Rental Agreement (signed by both manager and new resident)
• Park "Rules and Regulations" signed by the new resident
• Statement of Policy signed by the new resident
• Rental History Addendum to Statement of Policy
• Emergency Contact Information
• RV Storage Agreement (if applicable)
• Pet Agreement (if applicable) signed by the new resident
• A copy of criminal, credit and rental checks. Remember, credit check results are confidential
• Age verification (if 55 and Older Community)
• Flood Plain Notice

Remember - Prior to renting a space and permitting possession, you must have all proper inquiries completed and applicant accepted and the rental agreement signed.

If you are aware of a sale and do not have the purchaser fill out an application, or fail to advise the seller and prospective purchaser in writing that the application has been rejected within 7 days after they fill out the application, then the purchaser can move into the mobile home under the same condition of the rental agreement of the seller. Basically, they assume the existing rental agreement you have with the seller of the manufactured home.

If a prospective tenant refuses to provide you with the necessary information for you to qualify them, then it is an automatic denial of the applicant.

It is important that an application is filled out and you check out the person carefully. You should check them out the same as you do any prospective resident. You do not have to approve the person just because they are buying an existing home in the park. If they have a bad credit or rental history, they can be refused as a prospective tenant. This does not necessarily kill the sale of the mobile home. They can still purchase the home, they just cannot keep it in the park. You need to provide a written rejection to both the seller and prospective purchaser within 7 days. You need to advise them why they were not accepted. If you denied them for credit reasons, give the applicant the name and phone number of the company who provided you with the report. Advise the applicant that they can call them if they have any questions regarding the report.

It is important that you advise anyone that has a "For Sale" sign on their manufactured home that they do the three things listed at the beginning of this section. Failure by the prospective resident to fill out an application or the landlord's failure to advise them that they do not qualify can be a very costly mistake in the event they move in and then you give them notice. It makes for ill feelings for everyone involved.

If a resident sells their home and the new owner of the home has not filled out an application prior to moving into the home, you do not need to accept them as a resident. You have no contract with them and you can request them to remove the home from the park. DO NOT ALLOW PROSPECTIVE TENANTS TO MOVE IN BEFORE THE SCREENING PROCESS HAS BEEN COMPLETED, AND THE APPLICANT HAS BEEN APPROVED AND SIGNED, AND RECEIPTED FOR THE STATEMENT OF POLICY, RULES AND REGULATIONS AND RENTAL AGREEMENT. DO NOT ACCEPT RENT FROM ANYONE THAT YOU HAVE NOT APPROVED TO LIVE IN THAT HOME. If you accept rent before you qualify them then you may have established them as a tenant. Simply tell them that you cannot accept the rent until they fill out an application and are accepted by the landlord. DO NOT HAVE ANYONE SIGN A RENTAL AGREEMENT UNTIL YOU HAVE RUN CREDIT, RENTAL AND CRIMINAL CHECKS ON THEM AND THEY HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED. If any of the reports come back unfavorable there is nothing you can do about it because you have established them as a tenant by signing the agreement/lease.

Acceptance Briefing

Once you have determined that an individual is qualified to live in the community and all the proper documentation has been explained and signed, you should consider a meeting with the new resident. Use the Park Rules & Regulations as a briefing tool. The conversation should not be a "laying down of the law", but rather an open discussion of what is expected of both the new resident and community management. New residents may not know their responsibilities (despite signing numerous documents outlining their rights/responsibilities), thus it is your responsibility to clarify and remind them of their responsibilities. Be sure your new resident understands such things as:

1. Rent is due on the first of each month:
   1. If rent is paid after the 5th day, the residents will be faced with a late fee.
   2. If not paid by the 8th day, the resident will receive a 72-hour notice.
   3. Residents must give 30 days written notice to vacate space or they intend to sell their manufactured home.
2. Help your new resident be a good neighbor. Be sure that he/she is informed about:
   1. Quiet hours
   2. Pet Control
   3. Laundry room/Recreation room hours
   4. Swimming pool hours
   5. Review Rules and Regulation and remind the new resident that they are strictly enforced.

Statement of Policy - Complying with the Truth in Renting Act

As of July 1, 1992, all manufactured home communities renting space for manufactured dwellings have been required to provide prospective and existing tenants with a Statement of Policy. The applicants must receive their Statement of Policy before signing the rental agreement. Existing tenants who have not previously received a copy of the Statement of Policy and are on month-to-month rental agreements must receive their copy at the time the next 90-day rent increases notice is issued (ORS 90.510(3)(b). All other existing tenants shall receive a copy of the statement of policy upon expiration of their current rental agreement and before signing a new agreement.

While a Statement of Policy is not technically a contract, it is an important document. A tenant or rental applicant who makes their decisions or changes their position in reliance upon the policies set forth in the statement may be entitled to hold the landlord to those written policies. As proof of delivery of the Statement of Policy to tenants or applicants, it is advised to get a signed receipt.

A landlord who intentionally and deliberately fails to provide a Statement of Policy as required by ORS 90.510, or delivers a legally defective one, may be subject to a lawsuit.

The Statement of Policy is required to include the following information in summary form:

1. The location and approximate size of the space to be rented.
2. The federal fair housing age classification and present zoning that affect the use of the rented space.
3. The facility policy regarding rent adjustment and a rent history for the space to be rented. The rent history must, at a minimum, show the rent amounts on January 1 of each of the five preceding calendar years or during the length of the landlord's ownership, leasing or subleasing of the facility, whichever period is shorter.
4. All personal property, services and facilities to be provided by the landlord.
5. All installation charges imposed by the landlord and installation fees imposed by government agencies.
6. The facility policy regarding rental agreement termination including but not limited to closure of the facility.
7. The facility policy regarding facility sale.
8. The facility policy regarding informal dispute resolution.
9. Utilities and services available, the person furnishing them and the person responsible for payment.
10. If a tenants' association exists for the facility, a one-page summary about the tenants' association that shall be provided to the landlord by the tenants' association and shall be attached to the statement of policy.
11. Any facility policy regarding the removal of a manufactured dwelling, including a statement that removal may impact the market value of a dwelling.

Tenant Files

Before any tenant moves into your community the tenant's file should contain the following information:

1. Completed Application
2. Signed Rental Agreement. (Resident is to receive a copy)
3. Signed Rules and Regulations (Resident is to receive a copy)
4. Signed Statement of Policy including Rent History Addendum. (Tenant is to have received a copy of the Statement of Policy prior to signing rental agreement.)
5. Copy of Homeowner's insurance policy with community named as an interested party (for the purpose of being notified of cancellation of insurance. (This is for pets only.)
6. Credit check results
7. Rental check results
8. Criminal check results
9. Application screening fee receipt
10. Pet Agreement - Identify type of pet, name, size. You might consider taking a picture of the pet to include in your file in case you need to identify the pet in the future. Resident must sign the pet agreement. (Resident is to receive a copy)
11. Proof of Age if 55 and older community (photo ID, driver's license)
12. RV Storage Agreement. Identify type of RV (i.e. boat, camper, trailer, etc.) and include license number and description of recreational vehicle. (Resident is to receive a copy)
13. Any and all notices/correspondence between landlord/manager and resident 

Answer: This sounds like an episode from a Jerry Springer reality show! Your question doesn'tmake it clear whether the estate was formally filed for probate in court, in which case this "Administrator" would be subject to court supervision and would have to have a bond. I'm suspecting that is not the case - but if it is, you may want to secure legal counsel to notify the court of what's happening and perhaps get him removed.

Assuming that the person is just a designee for the un-probated estate (I will call him the "representative"), I would suggest that you look to ORS 90.675(20), which applies when a resident living alone passes away. Subsection (20) is summarized below, but should not be used as a substitute for reading ORS 90.675 (linked here) in its entirety:

• This subsection (20) applies the same duties as those of a resident who abandoned the property.
• It also applies to any personal representative named in a will or appointed by a court, or any person designated in writing by the decedent to be contacted by the landlord in the event of the tenant's death;
• The 45-day abandonment notice required in ORS 90.675(3) (go to above link) is to be sent by first class mail to this representative at the premises, and also personally delivered or sent by first class mail to them if actually known to the landlord.
• If the representative responds by actual notice to a landlord within the 45-day period provided in the letter and so requests, the landlord shall enter into a written storage agreement with the representative or person providing that the personal property may not be sold or disposed of by the landlord for up to 90 days or until conclusion of any probate proceedings, whichever is later.
• Note: Entering into the storage agreement includes the duty to pay a "storage fee" which can be no higher than the space rent. This duty is not triggered until the 45-day letter is sent. Presumably you will use a good storage agreement that requires, among other things, compliance with all applicable park rules and state, federal and local laws and ordinances, including a duty to maintain the space. On- site destruction of the home is NOT maintaining the space. Depending upon the home's age, on site destruction could be a violation of certain environmental laws, due to potentially hazardous material used in construction. In fact, since there is a risk that the representative will not comply with the storage agreement - based on his threat of destruction - you may want to consider - only upon the advice of your attorney - to restrict his unsupervised access to the home. Destruction of the home would not only take it off the tax rolls in violation of Oregon property tax law, but it would prevent you, as the landlord, from selling the home upon failure of the representative to meet his obligations. Remember, in addition to the tax collector, you have a vested interest in seeing the home sold for recoupment any sums due (arguably including attorney fees) incurred during the abandonment process.
• Since the abandonment law requires that the landlord has a duty of safe keeping pending completion of the abandonment process, it is my belief[1] that this entitles the landlord to secure the home (e.g. with a new lock) so that heirs and others cannot enter and remove personal property.
• A storage agreement entitles the representative to store the personal property on the space during the term of the agreement, but does not entitle anyone to occupy the personal property.
• If such an agreement is entered into, the landlord may not enter a similar agreement with a lienholder (if any) until the agreement with the representative ends.
• If the representative requests that a landlord enter into a storage agreement and there is a lienholder, also, you should review subsections (19)(c) to (e) and (g)(C) of ORS 90.675, which describes the rights and responsibilities of a lienholder with regard to the storage agreement.
• During the term of the Storage Agreement, the representative has the right to remove or sell the property, including a sale to a purchaser or a transfer to an heir who wishes to leave the property on the space and become a tenant. However, this prospective tenant is subject to the same statutory requirement, including landlord qualification and approval, as found in ORS 90.680 (linked here). The landlord also may condition approval for occupancy upon payment of all unpaid storage charges and maintenance costs.
• If the representative violates the storage agreement, the landlord may terminate it by giving at least 30 days' written notice to them stating facts sufficient to notify them of the reason for the termination. Unless the representative or person corrects the violation within the notice period, the Storage Agreement terminates as provided and the landlord may sell or dispose of the property without further notice to the representative.

• Upon the failure of a representative to enter into a storage agreement or upon termination of an agreement, unless the parties otherwise agree or the representative has sold or removed the home, the landlord may sell or dispose of it pursuant to sale provisions of ORS 90.675 without further notice to the representative.

So, in summary, the abandonment statute - which is quite lengthy and somewhat difficult to follow - applies in this case, and with proper guidance, you should be able to successfully deal with the representative.

[1] I'm not rendering a "legal opinion" in this Answer - PCQ

Answer:  Below is the relevant statute. Note it is NOT found in the landlord-tenant law (ORS Chapter 90), so many managers don’t see them; they are found in ORS Chapter 91.

91.120 Eviction of employee; notice required. An employee described in ORS 90.110 (7)[1]may only be evicted pursuant to ORS 105.105 to 105.168 after at least 24 hours’ written notice of the termination of employment or a notice period set forth in a written employment contract, whichever is longer. This section does not create the relationship of landlord and tenant between a landlord and such employee. (Emphasis added.)

So, check your manager’s employment contract to see if it addresses continued occupancy after termination. If it says nothing, then minimum amount of time you must give is 24-hours. The statute couldbe read to mean that the written 24-hour termination of employment is sufficient notice. However, I would suggest that when you terminate the manager you alsoissue a written notice of termination of their occupancy. 

The manager is not a “tenant” for purposes of ORS Chapter 90, so you don’t need to worry about adding three days for mailing etc. I would try to have the termination of employment and the termination of occupancy hand delivered. 

If you have questions about the termination of employment, you should contact an employment attorney. As for the termination of occupancy, all you need to say is the following:

DATE & TIME OF DELIVERY: _________________________

Pursuant to ORS 91.120, please regard this as notice of formal termination of your right of occupancy of [address]:_______________________________________ (“Premises”).  Please vacate the Premises no later than 5:00 PM on the ___ day of ________________, 2019 [Date and Time to be no less than24-hours from above date and time of delivery].  If you have any questions please contact your attorney.

[Signed]

______________________________

Make sure the notice gives a full 24-hours advance notice. Certainly, unless there is reason for not doing so, you can always insert a longer period of time to vacate.  Don’t agree to any extensions without it being in writing.

If the ex-manager refuses to vacate, you may append the notice to the standard court-issue summons and eviction form and have it served. The eviction process would be the same as if you were evicting a park tenant. The only thing different is that ORS Chapter 90 does not apply.

I think it’s important that your employment agreement makes clear that (a) the manager’s occupancy of the park-owned home is conditioned upon their continued employment, and (b) that upon termination of employment you have the right to terminate their occupancy under ORS 91.120 with not less than 24-hours’ notice.

Note that ORS 92.120 assumes the manager doesn’t own the home. If he or she does own the home, it’s a far different equation in my opinion. If that is the case, it would seem their continued right of occupancy should be addressed in the employment agreement, since otherwise, the ex-manager could morph into a “tenant” under ORS Chapter 90 if they started making payments monthly space rent. If you are thinking about hiring a current tenant as a manager, you should consult your attorney for directions as how to fashion the employment agreement.  

Answer: This sounds like an episode from a Jerry Springer reality show! Your question doesn'tmake it clear whether the estate was formally filed for probate in court, in which case this "Administrator" would be subject to court supervision and would have to have a bond. I'm suspecting that is not the case - but if it is, you may want to secure legal counsel to notify the court of what's happening and perhaps get him removed.

Assuming that the person is just a designee for the un-probated estate (I will call him the "representative"), I would suggest that you look to ORS 90.675(20), which applies when a resident living alone passes away. Subsection (20) is summarized below, but should not be used as a substitute for reading ORS 90.675 (linked here) in its entirety:

• This subsection (20) applies the same duties as those of a resident who abandoned the property.
• It also applies to any personal representative named in a will or appointed by a court, or any person designated in writing by the decedent to be contacted by the landlord in the event of the tenant's death;
• The 45-day abandonment notice required in ORS 90.675(3) (go to above link) is to be sent by first class mail to this representative at the premises, and also personally delivered or sent by first class mail to them if actually known to the landlord.
• If the representative responds by actual notice to a landlord within the 45-day period provided in the letter and so requests, the landlord shall enter into a written storage agreement with the representative or person providing that the personal property may not be sold or disposed of by the landlord for up to 90 days or until conclusion of any probate proceedings, whichever is later.
• Note: Entering into the storage agreement includes the duty to pay a "storage fee" which can be no higher than the space rent. This duty is not triggered until the 45-day letter is sent. Presumably you will use a good storage agreement that requires, among other things, compliance with all applicable park rules and state, federal and local laws and ordinances, including a duty to maintain the space. On- site destruction of the home is NOT maintaining the space. Depending upon the home's age, on site destruction could be a violation of certain environmental laws, due to potentially hazardous material used in construction. In fact, since there is a risk that the representative will not comply with the storage agreement - based on his threat of destruction - you may want to consider - only upon the advice of your attorney - to restrict his unsupervised access to the home. Destruction of the home would not only take it off the tax rolls in violation of Oregon property tax law, but it would prevent you, as the landlord, from selling the home upon failure of the representative to meet his obligations. Remember, in addition to the tax collector, you have a vested interest in seeing the home sold for recoupment any sums due (arguably including attorney fees) incurred during the abandonment process.
• Since the abandonment law requires that the landlord has a duty of safe keeping pending completion of the abandonment process, it is my belief[1] that this entitles the landlord to secure the home (e.g. with a new lock) so that heirs and others cannot enter and remove personal property.
• A storage agreement entitles the representative to store the personal property on the space during the term of the agreement, but does not entitle anyone to occupy the personal property.
• If such an agreement is entered into, the landlord may not enter a similar agreement with a lienholder (if any) until the agreement with the representative ends.
• If the representative requests that a landlord enter into a storage agreement and there is a lienholder, also, you should review subsections (19)(c) to (e) and (g)(C) of ORS 90.675, which describes the rights and responsibilities of a lienholder with regard to the storage agreement.
• During the term of the Storage Agreement, the representative has the right to remove or sell the property, including a sale to a purchaser or a transfer to an heir who wishes to leave the property on the space and become a tenant. However, this prospective tenant is subject to the same statutory requirement, including landlord qualification and approval, as found in ORS 90.680 (linked here). The landlord also may condition approval for occupancy upon payment of all unpaid storage charges and maintenance costs.
• If the representative violates the storage agreement, the landlord may terminate it by giving at least 30 days' written notice to them stating facts sufficient to notify them of the reason for the termination. Unless the representative or person corrects the violation within the notice period, the Storage Agreement terminates as provided and the landlord may sell or dispose of the property without further notice to the representative.

• Upon the failure of a representative to enter into a storage agreement or upon termination of an agreement, unless the parties otherwise agree or the representative has sold or removed the home, the landlord may sell or dispose of it pursuant to sale provisions of ORS 90.675 without further notice to the representative.

So, in summary, the abandonment statute - which is quite lengthy and somewhat difficult to follow - applies in this case, and with proper guidance, you should be able to successfully deal with the representative.

[1] I'm not rendering a "legal opinion" in this Answer - PCQ

Obviously, if the elderly or infirm resident, or their family, sell the home before the resident transfers to an assisted care facility, the problem goes away. If not, i.e. the home is vacated and space rent is not paid, the landlord should try to determine the intent of the departing resident, either from the resident themselves, or their family.[1] Are they intending to "abandon" the home?[2] If the resident, or their family, intends to try to resell the home, and make space rental payments in the meantime, then there is probably room for an agreement. But if - as is all too often the case - the intent is to either to simply "walk away" or not make any payments until the home is sold, then the landlord must evaluate his or her alternatives.

When the Resident Leaves Under these circumstances, assuming that the resident or their family did not contact the landlord in advance, and there is no way to find out where they have gone, the only alternative is to issue a 72-hour notice for nonpayment

of space rent. If it is not paid, the FED must be filed, and if the resident does not show up, the court will grant a judgment of restitution. After the lapse of 7 days following issuance of the judgment of restitution, the landlord may commence an abandonment, and proceed to auction as permitted by Oregon law.

It is precisely because the landlord's alternatives are so limited, that it is important to try to determine, in advance, what is going on with the tenant. If they are sick or infirm, this means trying to contact a close relative or friend. Are they planning on leaving? Are they going into an assisted care facility? Are they working with a social worker? If so, what agency is it? Having the answer to these questions make it much easier on the landlord and ultimately the elderly tenant, when the time comes for the tenant to relocate because of advanced age or health.

When the Resident Acquires State Assistance Where the resident obtains state assistance, and that agency acquires lien rights in the home as a result, the landlord still has the right to enforce payment of the rent. Similar to the situation where the resident "walks away" if rent isn'tpaid, an eviction may be filed and abandonment commenced following 7 days after the court's issuance of a judgment of restitution. As discussed below, while the state agency has certain rights during the abandonment process, they are not any different than other lienholders. However, if the space rent is not paid, either by the tenant or the state agency, the landlord has the right to commence the eviction process, by first giving a 72-hour notice of nonpayment.

Dealing with the Estate Most estate attorneys and heirs, do not understand the statutory abandonment process. In a nutshell, the estate has substantially the same rights to resell the home under a storage agreement as a lienholder, except that the resale period lasts for 90 days or close of probate, whichever is longer. Unfortunately, in most cases where the resident has passed away, the attorney, if one has been retained, or the beneficiaries, if not, assume that they do not have to pay space rent until the home is sold. This is patently incorrect. If the estate does not return the signed storage agreement within 60 days following the issuance of the abandonment and storage agreement, the landlord may proceed to auction.

In those cases in which the state agency has a lien (e.g. the Oregon Department of Revenue where the personal property taxes are paid under the senior citizens' deferral program), they must be notified of the abandonment the same as any other lienholder. However, in many instances, the state agency fails to file its lien with the Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV"), which is the primary source for landlords to determine whether there are any liens filed against the home. Unless the landlord has actual notice of the lien, the failure of the agency to record it with the DMV will likely prevent it from being notified of a pending abandonment.[3]

Conversely, if a landlord is notified that the state agency providing assistance to the resident intends to claim a lien, then he or she should make sure to give them notice, once the resident has left the home (with no intent to return) and the abandonment process has been started. In this manner the state agency will have to decide - like all lienholders - whether to sign the storage agreement and commence making storage fee payments, or (b) give up the right to resell the home on site, to satisfy the lien.

[1] A related problem arises where the elderly tenant leaves, after transferring possession (and sometimes ownership) of the home to a younger relative - without the landlord's consent. Assuming that the landlord has not consented or accepted rent from the unauthorized occupant, this is a violation of ORS 90.400(3)(d) and the landlord has the right to issue a 24-hour notice to the occupant of the home, and, if necessary, terminate the tenancy.

[2] By "abandonment" I mean that the resident has, or will leave, with no intent of returning.

[3] Although this issue has not been addressed in any Oregon appellate court case, it is hard to see how a landlord could be required to notify a state agency, if he or she did not know that the agency claimed a lien on the home. Unless or until ORS 90.675 is amended, it would seem incumbent on any state agency claiming a lien to become familiar with the statute and record their lien with the DMV.