Hello,
I own a park in Minnesota and would like to non renew a problem tenant. This is my first non renewal so I hired an attorney and they seem to think I need to list as many reasons as possible on the non renewal letter.
Has anyone done a non renewal in Minnesota? Is it not as easy as in other states?
I assume this tenant will ignore the non renewal and stay as long as possible. The home has leaks and is probably a tear down.
@JCas06 , as per your post:
We have 2 MHPS in South Carolina (not Minnesota).
We do NOT give any reasons for the Non-Renewal.
Our Tenants are on Month-To-Month Leases.
In the Letters to our Tenants (1. Regular Mail & 2. Certified Mail / Return Receipt Requested) we state:
"The Duration of the Leases in this MHP is:
Month-To-Month
A Month-To-Month Lease is a Rental Agreement for a one-month period that is renewed automatically each month for another month until properly terminated by either party.
Either the Tenant or Landlord may Terminate a Month-To-Month Lease with a 30 Day Written Notice.
Please be aware that this LETTER SERVES as your 30 DAY WRITTEN LEASE TERMINATION."
As you stated your MHP is in Minnesota. Thus, Minnesota’s State Law might be different. (Hopefully, some Minnesota MHP Owner can chime in.)
However, personally I would be really concerned (like Tenant lawsuit coming your way) about stating any reason for the Non-Renewal.
I totally understand your desire to hire an Attorney to verify that you are doing this correctly (as it is your first Non-Renewal).
However, it feels like this Attorney might be creating more work for themselves (and more bills for you).
Does your Attorney successfully do evictions in Mobile Home Parks on a regular basis?
We wish you the very best!
Can’t speak to Minnesota law, but here in Wisconsin we’re instructed to NEVER give a reason for “without cause” MTM evictions. For example, eviction for non-payment of rent is obvious. Drug Nuisance evictions are obvious. Beyond that, you keep your mouth SHUT.
Mike
@prebans thank you. I shot an email off to Brandon I know they have a lot of parks in Minnesota. So the tenant got a lawyer and called my lawyer and told him in MN you can not non renew a month to month lease or terminate a lease without cause and pointed him to this statute:
327C.09 TERMINATION.
Subdivision 1.Cause required. A park owner may recover possession of land upon which a manufactured home is situated only for a reason specified in this section or section 327C.095.
Subd. 2.Nonpayment of rent or utilities. The park owner gives ten days’ written notice to the resident and to any party holding a security interest in the resident’s home known to the park owner that a periodic rental or utilities payment owed to the park owner is overdue, and neither the resident nor the secured party cures the default within ten days of receiving the notice.
Subd. 3.Violations of law. The resident fails to comply with a local ordinance, state law or state rule relating to manufactured homes within the time the ordinance, state law or state rule provides or, if no time is provided, within a reasonable time after the resident has received written notice of noncompliance.
Subd. 4.Rule violations. The resident fails to comply with a rule within 30 days after receiving written notice of the alleged noncompliance, except the 30-day notice requirement does not apply to nonpayment of rent. To be effective, the notice must specify the date, approximate time, and nature of the alleged rule violation. Loud noise created by residents, guests, or their equipment is a rule violation. After written notice has been provided for two prior incidents, loud noise is a violation of subdivision 5.
Subd. 5.Endangerment; substantial annoyance. The resident acts in the park in a manner which endangers other residents or park personnel, causes substantial damage to the park premises or substantially annoys other residents, and has received 30 days’ written notice to vacate, except the park owner may require the resident to vacate immediately if the resident violates this subdivision a second or subsequent time after receipt of the notice. To be effective, the notice must specify the time, date, and nature of the alleged annoyance, damage, or endangerment. A park owner seeking to evict pursuant to this subdivision need not produce evidence of a criminal conviction, even if the alleged misconduct constitutes a criminal offense.
Subd. 6.Repeated serious violations. The resident has repeatedly committed serious violations of the rental agreement or provisions of a local ordinance or state law or state rule relating to manufactured homes, and the park owner has given the resident written notice of the violations and has given the resident a written warning that any future serious violation will be treated as cause for eviction as provided in this subdivision, and within six months of receiving the warning the resident commits a serious violation of any park rule or any provision of a local ordinance or state law or state rule relating to manufactured homes.
Subd. 7.Material misstatement in application. The resident’s application for tenancy contained a material misstatement which induced the park owner to approve the applicant as a resident, and the park owner discovers and acts upon the misstatement within one year of the time the resident began paying rent.
Subd. 8.Improvements. The park owner has specific plans to make improvements to the park premises which will substantially benefit the health and safety of the residents or have been ordered by a government agency, and which necessitate removal of the resident’s manufactured home from the park. The park owner must give the resident 90 days’ written notice and include in that notice a statement identifying how the improvements will substantially benefit the health and safety of the residents. If another lot is available in the park, the park owner must allow the resident to relocate the home to that lot unless the home, because of its size or local ordinance, is not compatible with that lot.
Fair enough! Have your lawyer craft something in line with those laws.
Ack- what an annoyance!
Mike
I’m assuming you are not non-renewing them for no reason, so I would follow the statute. However in most states you would be advised not to give a reason, as the tenant might try to then sue you for slander or whatever a personal injury lawyer could cobble together. America in 2017 is a very litigious place. That being said, I’m hoping your reason is not “they are selling drugs” or some other non-proven allegation as that will definitely put you at risk.
@frankrolfe Thank you for your response. Well I think it is for good reason, the tenant has been a problem for many months. Police called to the house for domestic abuse. Police conducting a search warrant on tenants house for narcotics and child welfare check complete with urine samples from adult and hair samples from the kids. One of the kids tested positive and had to leave to go to foster care or something. Cussing out my managers multiple occasions. Children cussing out managers. Loud music. Walking around the park high. Boyfriend spinning tires in park. And many written and dated complaints about them from other tenants.
We had a tenant that must be cousins of yours judging by the problems. Maine has similar Must have Cause reason for non renewal. I hired a tough lawyer that has lots of mobile home park evictions. He found lies on her application and other issues we didn’t. The trick is document everything. Letters to tenant: Police called to your lot; disturbing residents with noise, every late payment. Paint a picture. Don’t rely on one thing like three disturbances in 12 months. They or their lawyer will say one wasn’t valid. Go in with 3 disturbances, and 3 late payments and failure to abide state laws and lying on application.
:
You cannot non renew a tenant in Minnesota. I found out the hard way when I went to court with an attorney that told me you could. I lost the case.
You must have cause to remove a tenant in MN. Rule violations or non payment of rent is the best way.
Make sure you get an attorney that really knows MN mobile home law first.