Enforcement- Occupancy + Water Usage

I have a different water problem than most. We have a Well and Septic tanks and each home is individually metered in my mostly Hispanic MHP. I have 3 singlewide trailers using 15000 gallons per month. These high user are causing my septic system to be over run. The average single wide in my park uses 2500-5000 gallons per month.

I think that they may have 8 to 10 people living in these homes but I don’t know how to prove it. They own the home and they signed leases that stated only 4 residents and they listed the residents names.

Thier water usage is causing Health Dept fiines.

Any recommendations?

A few thoughts come to mind.

  1. Add a surcharge (assuming you’re already doing a base water charge of some kind) to their bill for every thousand gallons over 5,000 that is exceeded. Determine if you can pass along fines from the city to the occupants. Have a septic company come out to pump the tanks every month they use more than 5,000 gallons and pass that along to them. Update your Park rules accordingly and have the tenants sign them. Evict them if it becomes a recurring violation.

  2. See how many vehicles are being parked by the home at night. Every resident’s car there needs to be registered with the Park. Guests staying more than X night should have a fine or surcharge associated with it as they’re not approved as part of the lease.

  3. Non renew their lease without reason.

Check all of this with your attorney to make sure allowed by your state law. Many vary.

Do what is necessary to get rid of them. If they are in violation of the lease, more than 4 people, and you are allowed to terminate do it. Water usage is a secondary issue.

Get a neighbour to keep an eye on each property to confirm the numbers. Make a surprise visit to the homes in the evening if necessary.

Do you also have restrictions on the number of vehicles permitted per lot.

I have only POHs but our very first order of biz was installing low flow shower heads, toilets, and faucets. The shower heads can be picked up for $8, the faucets about $18, and the toilets about $60. Really good investment imo.

Knock on the door at various times of day and get copies of the identities of the residents. Create a paper trail of who is home. If there are non-tenants, find out why they’re there and how long they plan on staying. Does your lease allow this?

Aside from the number of people, it could also be (1) leaks (2) some illegal water-consuming activity. If all else fails, bring the health department notice plus the usage numbers to the evictions lawyer and let them take it from there.

Brandon@Sandell