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(Editors Note: MHCO is fortunate to have over 25 association members who provide a variety of services to manufactured home communities. MHCO strives to maximize associate member's exposure to the broader community membership. All MHCO associate members are invited to provide articles for the MHCO web site. We welcome your involvement - just contact the MHCO office.)

By Todd Montgomery Simmons & Associates Insurance

There are many considerations taken into account by Insurance companies when looking into insuring a Mobile Home Park. The following are just some of the factors:

- Type of Park:
Are you family friendly, 55 & older, Seasonal, or possibly a combination?

- Management:
Is your park managed by a management company? Do you have an onsite manager? Does the owner visit the park often?

- Rental Units:
Does your park have rental units? Do you require renters to carry renters insurance? Are the rental units inspected inside and out at least annually?

- Utilities:
Is your park on city sewer and water? If on a well, how often is the water tested? Is it tested by an outside independent company? How often is trash disposed of?

- Recreational Facilities:
Playground? Horseshoe pits? Tennis courts? Basketball courts? Weight room or exercise equipment?

- Exposure to water:
Do you have a pool? Does it have a slide or diving board? Is the pool area completely fenced? Are the rules and regulations clearly posted? Are depths marked? Is there safety equipment available? Is there a Jacuzzi or hot tub?

Is there any other exposure to water? (lake, pond, river, etc.)

- Security
Is there a gate at the entrance to your park? Are there security patrols from an outside agency? Are any park activities open to the public?

- Streets:
Are the streets paved? Are there any pot holes, depressions, or major cracks? Do you have speed humps? Are they painted? Is a speed limit posted? Do you have street lights?

- Tree exposure:
Does your park have an exposure to large trees? Are they pruned regularly?

Finally, the two most important factors Insurance companies consider when insuring a Mobile Home Park...

How many spaces?
Gross annual revenue?

Feel free to contact me if anything you have read in this article creates a question for you.

Todd Montgomery
511 Center Street
Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 768 - 9706
todd@simmons-ins.com
www.simmons-ins.com

Answer: The short answer is "no," you probably do not need to provide shower facilities. However, there may be exceptions, so read through this entire answer to determine whether you may need to seek specific legal advice.

The Oregon Administrative Rules ("OAR") require RV parks to provide "toilets," but do not specify that parks are required to provide showers. OAR 333-031-0066 (1)(a).

The OARs refer to the types of "toilets" allowed, which can include flush toilet facilities, pit privies, or chemical toilets. OAR 333-031-0066 (2) and (3). Given that an RV park can provide non-plumbed toilet facilities, there is little doubt that showers are not part of the facility requirements.

Keep in mind that each situation is different and could be affected by local ordinances or your park's specific recreational park license or building permit. You should check your park documents for any mention of a shower requirement, and check your city or county ordinances governing RV parks for the same. If you are unsure whether shower facilities might be required, you should consult an attorney to specifically evaluate your situation.

(Footnote: If you do provide showers at your RV park, then the OARs lay out several specific requirements. Shower walls, ceilings and partitions must be impervious to water and watertight seals must be maintained at joints. Floor areas must be finished with non-slip surfaces and sloped to effectively drain water. Wooden racks or duck boards over shower floors are prohibited. Where glass shower doors are used, they must be made of safety glass. OAR 333-031-0012 (1).)

MHCO.ORG Note:  Pressure continues to build to provide more renter rights and legalize some form of rent control or rent justification.  Portland City Council's action this afternoon is yet another precursor of more to come in the Oregon Legislature.  Stay tuned - this issue is not going away anytime soon.

* * * * * *

By Jessica Floum

The Oregonian/OregonLive

Exceptions to Portland land use rules, protections for city renters facing eviction or big rent hikes, and political pressure to devote taxpayer and donor money to affordable housing will continue for the foreseeable future, following a unanimous Portland City Council vote Wednesday.

All those measures are intended to curb Portland's critical shortage of affordable housing and spike in homelessness.

The council voted Wednesday to extend for a second time its a declared "housing emergency." It also voted to extend a renter protection policy adopted in February by six months to give city officials time to implement a permanent renter's rights policy.

Instituted in 2015, the emergency declaration has encouraged spending on housing, allowed for flexibility in where city and county officials can open shelters and fast-tracked building permits for affordable housing projects. The council extended the declaration by 18 months and charged the Portland Housing Bureau and the city and county's Joint Office on Homeless Services to develop criteria for when the city should lift the temporary rules.

Commissioners hope to implement permanent rules in the city's zoning codes by then. They might include permanent zoning exemptions that allow for homeless camps such as Right 2 Dream Too or emergency homeless shelters in the winter.

"There's more we need to do to stabilize the systems that impact housing and homelessness in our community," Mayor Ted Wheeler said. "This is an emergency that requires action now."

Led by former housing advocate and city Commissioner Chloe Eudaly early this year, the council adopted a tenant protection rule that requires landlords to pay $2,900 to $4,500 in relocation costs to renters whom they evict without cause or who must move as the result of a rent increase of 10 percent or more.

The council extended that policy, set to expire Friday, by six months. Wheeler, the housing commissioner, pledged to bring a permanent renter protection rule back to the council on December 6.

Dozens of renters urged the council Wednesday to take the rule further.

They shared experiences of landlords finding ways around the rule such as increasing rents by 9.97 percent instead of 10 percent and requiring renters to pay for utilities that the landlord previously covered.

They advocated for closing an exemption for "mom and pop" landlords who only rent one unit. The impact on the renters is harmful, regardless of who the landlord is, they said.

Many of the most vulnerable tenants rent from smaller landlords because they can't access "mainstream" rental opportunities due to criminal histories or other "troubled records," said Katrina Holland, executive director of renter advocacy group Community Alliance of Tenants.

The following are just some of the factors:

- Type of Park:
Are you family friendly, 55 & older, Seasonal, or possibly a combination?

- Management:
Is your park managed by a management company? Do you have an onsite manager? Does the owner visit the park often?

- Rental Units:
Does your park have rental units? Do you require renters to carry renters insurance? Are the rental units inspected inside and out at least annually?

- Utilities:
Is your park on city sewer and water? If on a well, how often is the water tested? Is it tested by an outside independent company? How often is trash disposed of?

- Recreational Facilities:
Playground? Horseshoe pits? Tennis courts? Basketball courts? Weight room or exercise equipment?

- Exposure to water:
Do you have a pool? Does it have a slide or diving board? Is the pool area completely fenced? Are the rules and regulations clearly posted? Are depths marked? Is there safety equipment available? Is there a Jacuzzi or hot tub?

Is there any other exposure to water? (lake, pond, river, etc.)

- Security
Is there a gate at the entrance to your park? Are there security patrols from an outside agency? Are any park activities open to the public?

- Streets:
Are the streets paved? Are there any pot holes, depressions, or major cracks? Do you have speed humps? Are they painted? Is a speed limit posted? Do you have street lights?

- Tree exposure:
Does your park have an exposure to large trees? Are they pruned regularly?

Finally, the two most important factors Insurance companies consider when insuring a Mobile Home Park...

How many spaces?
Gross annual revenue?

Feel free to contact me if anything you have read in this article creates a question for you.

Todd Montgomery
511 Center Street
Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 768 - 9706
todd@simmons-ins.com
www.simmons-ins.com

(Editors Note: MHCO is fortunate to have over 25 association members who provide a variety of services to manufactured home communities. MHCO strives to maximize associate member's exposure to the broader community membership. All MHCO associate members are invited to provide articles for the MHCO web site. We welcome your involvement - just contact the MHCO office.)

Answer: A temporary occupant is not supposed to be paying the rent. You are not allowed to screen for the occupant’s ability to pay, because they are not a tenant. Your acceptance of rent from the occupant creates an appearance that the occupant is really a tenant. Secondly, the law says that a temporary occupant may not live in the home unless there is a tenant there as well. Accordingly, if you accept rent from the temporary occupant in the absence of the tenant living there, it could create a situation where you have waived the temporary occupant status, and are now treating him as a full time tenant. Here are the rules under the temporary occupancy statute ORS 90.275: • The temporary occupant: o Is not a tenant entitled to occupy the dwelling unit to the exclusion of others; and o Does not have the rights of a tenant. • The temporary occupancy agreement may be terminated by: o The tenant without cause at any time; and o The landlord only for cause that is a material violation of the temporary occupancy agreement. • The temporary occupant does not have a right to cure a violation that causes a landlord to terminate the temporary occupancy agreement. • Before entering into a temporary occupancy agreement, a landlord may screen the proposed temporary occupant for issues regarding conduct or for a criminal record. The landlord may not screen the proposed temporary occupant for credit history or income level. • A temporary occupancy agreement: o Must expressly include the above requirements; o May provide that the temporary occupant is required to comply with any applicable rules for the premises; and o May have a specific ending date. • The landlord, tenant and temporary occupant may extend or renew a temporary occupancy agreement or may enter into a new temporary occupancy agreement. • A landlord or tenant is not required to give the temporary occupant written notice of the termination of a temporary occupancy agreement. • The temporary occupant shall promptly vacate the dwelling unit if a landlord terminates a temporary occupancy agreement for material violation of the temporary occupancy agreement or if the temporary occupancy agreement ends by its terms. o Except in cases of discrimination (ORS 90.449) a landlord may terminate the tenancy of the tenant if the temporary occupant fails to promptly vacate or if the tenant materially violates the temporary occupancy agreement. • A temporary occupant is treated as a squatter if they continue to occupy the home after a tenancy has ended or after the tenant revokes permission for the occupancy by terminating the temporary occupancy agreement. • A landlord may not enter into a temporary occupancy agreement for the purpose of evading landlord responsibilities; • A tenant may not become a temporary occupant in the tenant’s own dwelling unit; • A tenancy may not consist solely of a temporary occupancy. Each tenancy must have at least one tenant. In your case, it would appear that you could either terminate the tenant’s tenancy since they vacated leaving the temporary occupant to occupy alone, a violation of the statute, or terminate the temporary occupant for the same reason. I would try a written notice to the temporary occupant, to see if they will voluntarily vacate. If they refuse, then you should retain counsel and proceed to evict him as a squatter. Do not, under any circumstances, accept rent from the temporary occupant.

By:  Dale Strom, Second Generation Oregon Community Owner and MHCO Board Member

This is the third of a multiple part series on a private owner of a Manufactured Home Community willingly attempting to sell that Community to an Association of tenants within that Community. Riverbend MHP is a 39 space community located within the city limits of Clatskanie, OR. In the first part of this series, the motivation of the owner is revealed on why he wanted to work with CASA of Oregon exclusively rather than offering this Community for sale to all interested private parties. In the second part, the owner met with the Deputy Director and the Real Estate and Cooperative Development Manager for CASA of Oregon. The framing, presentation and negotiation of the Agreement to Purchase" was discussed.

In this third part

Answer. RS 90.680(6)(b) provides as follows:

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 landlords conditions for approval as provided in ORS 90.510 (Statement of policy) (5)(i) or failure of the prospective purchasers references to respond to the landlords timely request for verification within the time allowed for acceptance or rejection under paragraph (a) of this subsection. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the landlord shall furnish to the seller and purchaser a written statement of the reasons for the rejection.

What this means is that the only prohibition is against unreasonable rejections. That, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. But whatever criteria you have, it must be applied consistently to all prospective applicants.

However, note that besides situations in which the prospective tenant fails to timely respond, the source of relevant screening criteria is to come from your Statement of Policy. So check that to see what criteria you have.

Similarly, Oregon law requires that you must inform your current resident in the rental agreement as to what criteria you will use, so check that, as well. In other words, you cannot make up screening criteria on the fly.

The MHCO rental and lease agreements have a number of criteria set out, and as long as you confine yourself to them you should be in good shape. You will note that they are general in nature, and do not set limits on the age or type of criminal convictions.

In checking with John VanLandingham, he reminds me that ORS 90.303 currently provides that a "landlord cannot consider arrests (unless the charge is still pending), but can consider convictions if the conviction relates to conduct relevant to being a tenant, which includes most everything. In consulting with screening companies, we were told that most don't report crimes older than 5 or 7 years."

There is a move afoot to apply limitations on criminal records in hiring. See the discussion on the Internet relating to "Ban the Box," here.

The Rental Application form provides the basic information needed to make a decision on accepting the applicant. Under current Oregon Law you will have not more than 7 days from application to accept or decline a prospective resident. Used properly, the rental application and personal interview will prove helpful in countering charges of discrimination in renting spaces. When completed, a rental application should reveal:

• Financial information
• Employment information
• Residence history
• Household members
• Social security number(s)
• Driver license number(s)
• Ownership or lien-holder of the unit
• Age, size and condition of the unit
• Information about motor vehicles
• Pets
• Age verification if the community is classified as 55 or older or 62 or older housing
• Credit references
• Emergency contacts
• Authorization to do credit and criminal checks
• Acknowledgement of receipt of disclosure documents

At the time the prospective tenant returns an application for residency, the manager or landlord should provide the prospective tenant with copies of the Statement of Policy, the rent history of the space, the Rental Agreement and the Rules and Regulations. These documents may have been provided earlier in the application packet. You may provide these documents anytime prior to the signing of the rental/lease agreement (ORS 90.510(3)(a). However, make sure that the receipt for receiving these documents is signed prior to signing the rental agreement.

As mentioned earlier, it is advisable to provide the prospective resident these documents with the application so that the prospective resident can make an informed decision regarding where they would like to apply. Take time to make sure the prospective resident is aware of the content of each of these documents. It will do the community or the resident little good to have the prospective resident move in without taking the time to read and understand the Statement of Policy, the rent history of the space, the Rental Agreement and the Rules and Regulations. Poorly informed residents will likely result in future problems in the community. 

1. How to Initiate Mediation or Informal Dispute Resolution

Mediation may be initiated by a Landlord, a Tenant or Group of Tenants. Either party may contact the mediation services available through: (a) park/marina manager, (b) Local Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC), or (c) Manufactured and Marina Communities Resource Center (MMCRC) hotline: 1-800- 453-5511 (Toll Free in Oregon) or email:hcs.mmcrc@oregon.gov or the MMCRC Website.

2. Disputes Eligible for Mandatory Mediation

• Those between the landlord and one or more tenants, initiated by any party.

• Those between more than one tenant as initiated by the landlord.

• Information dispute resolution, disputes between two tenants, initiated by either party. Consistent with statute, upon intake the CDRC will determine the eligibility of an issue for mediation (reference Section 6 below).

3. Good Faith Efforts

Participants must make good faith effort to: (a) schedule a mediation within 30 days after initiation: (b) attend and participate; and (c) cooperate with reasonable requests of the mediator.

4. Mandatory mediation only:

 If a party refuses to participate in good faith in mandatory mediation with another party, or uses mediation to harass another party, the other party:

(a) has a defense to a claim related to the subject of the dispute for which mediation was sought; and

(b) is entitled to damages of one month’s rent against the party.

Effect of Filing for Mandatory Mediation

Between the commencement and conclusion of the mediation:

• If the request for mandatory mediation is made before the landlord files a Forcible Entry5. 6.and Detainer, Oregon Revised Statute 90.767 calls for a “stay” or “toll” (suspension) of

any related court action until conclusion of the mandatory mediation.

• A party may not file a court action over the dispute until conclusion of the mandatory mediation; (c) tenant has continuing duty to pay rent; and (d) landlord’s receipt of rent does not constitute a waiver under Oregon Revised Statute 90.412(2).

5. Matters Subject to Mandatory Mediation

Except as provided in Section 6, below, the following disputes are eligible for mediation:

(a) landlord or tenant compliance with the rental agreement or Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 90 (Oregon landlord/tenant statutes); (b) landlord or tenant conduct within the Park/Marina; and (c) rule changes initiated under Oregon Revised Statute 90.610.

Matters Not Subject to Mandatory Mediation

Unless specifically provided for in a mediation policy established under this section, or agreed to by all parties, no party may initiate mediation for:

(a) Facility closures consistent with ORS 90.645 or 90.671.

(b) Facility sales consistent with ORS 90.842 to 90.850.

(c) Rent increases consistent with ORS 90.600.

(d) Rent payments or amounts owed.

(e) Tenant violations alleged in a termination notice given under ORS 90.394, 90.396 or

90.630 (8).

(f) Violations of an alleged unauthorized person in possession in a notice given under ORS

90.403.

(g) Unless initiated by the victim, a dispute involving allegations of domestic violence,

sexual assault or stalking or a dispute between the victim and the alleged perpetrator.

(h) A dispute arising after the termination of the tenancy, including under ORS 90.425,

90.675 or 105.161.

7. Confidentiality

Subject to Oregon Revised Statute 36.220 (confidentiality of mediation communications and agreements), all communications between the parties and mediator are strictly confidential and may not be used in any legal proceedings.

8. Limitations on Mandatory Mediation Process

Participation in mediation does not require any party to: (a) reach an agreement on any or all issues submitted; (b) participate in more than one mediation session; (c) participate foran unreasonable length of time in a mediation session; or (d) waive or forego any legal rights or remedies.

9. Designees for Parties

Any party may designate any other person, including a non-attorney(“Designee”), to represent the interests of that party provided that the Designee has complete written authority to bind that party to any resolution of the dispute reached in mediation. The Designee shall be equally bound by all rules of the mediation, including confidentiality.

10. Resolution/Nonresolution

The mediator shall notify Oregon Housing and Community Services whether a dispute was resolved but may not disclose the contents of any resolution.

This article was created by Oregon Housing and Community Services

Senate Bill 599 sets out an entirely new section of the ORLTA allowing tenants to use their dwellings as “family child care homes.” A landlord may not prohibit the use provided that the tenant has obtained the proper certification under ORS 329A.280 or ORS 329A.330, and has provided notice to the landlord of the tenant’s intent to operate a child care home.

Modifications. A landlord is permitted to require the tenant to pay in advance for costs of modifications necessary or desirable for the tenant’s use, certification or registration of the dwelling as a family child care home, even if it is not required of the landlord under ORS 90.320 or the rental agreement.

Prohibitions. A landlord may prohibit use as a family child care home if it will violate zoning restrictions or an association’s governing documents. Likewise, a landlord may prohibit any use which is not allowed under the rules of the Early Learning Council, the regulating body for in-home child care facilities.

Liability Protection. Family child care homes are not required to carry liability insurance unless the landlord specifically requires it. The landlord may require that the tenant running the child care home provide protection for the landlord, property owner or the association in the following manner:

• If uninsured: Child care provider must require that parents sign a document acknowledging that the landlord, owner and/or association is not responsible for harm to children or guests connected to the family child care home. This document also must acknowledge that the family child care home does not carry liability insurance for losses to their children or guests.
• If insured: Landlord may require that the child care home carry a reasonable surety bond or liability policy (in addition to renters insurance under ORS 90.222) covering the children and guests. The policy must provide coverage for injuries sustained related to negligence of the tenant or tenant’s employees, and the policy must name the landlord, property owner, or association as an additional insured.

Housing for Older Persons. The tenant may not operate a family child care home if the dwelling in question qualifies as housing for older persons under ORS 659A.421.