Franklin County, Oh wants more info

What do you think they are after? And how unrealistic is it of them to expect to know every inhabitant of each home, it changes with the dirction of the wind. :smile:


Dear Manager,

We are requesting a complete and current park registration list for your park. Please include make, model, and year of each home. In accordance with the Ohio Revised Code 4503.062, please ensure you prove the following information:

  1. The name of the owner and all inhabitants of each home.
  2. Indicate if the home is a rental
  3. The permanent and temporary Post Office address of all inhabitants.

Please indicate on your park list if a lot is vacant and provide a current park map.

blah, blah, blah

Franklin County Auditor’s Office

It is probably an update from the tax assessor’s office to use for assessing personal property taxes on the trailers. I’ve had the same information request before.

I would suggest you contact some competent legal help before supplying that information.

I am concerned about the amounts of information they are demanding, you just might be violating privacy laws if you choose to comply completely.

Standard request. I provide it annually to our tax assessor.

Greg, if you will pardon the impertinent question, you really don’t provide the names of each home’s (unit / home/ trailer / mobile) other inhabitants and their addresses to the county government do you? In other words, the owner and or tenant AND all others in each unit, like spouse, children, relatives, guests, etc.

You really only supply the owners name and address, right?

Have you ever read the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution? link below

Our Municipal Property Assessment Corporation collects the info under authority of the Government for taxation, Municipal and School Board elections and to determine population counts.
Secrecy is not an issue. The info they require is minimal - home owner name and names of all permanent occupants in the home as well as what they pay for rent and any other provided services.
Unless you are in a witness protection program there is no reason not to provide the info requested by a Government authorised entity. They also require all of my rental property income and expense info.
Fortunately for us in Canada we do not have the same level of concerns regarding secrecy as you have in the US.

Greg, Thank You for the info about Canada and how you view the local government’s authority to collect data and what you provide them.

I am not a lawyer so I sought out a competent legal professional many years ago to protect myself legally from the demands of government entities. That professionally licensed person explained the following United States Supreme Court case law decisions and how it relates to government entities information requirements to me very thoroughly. It was money well spent!

West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 49, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 2255, 101 L.Ed.2d 40(1988)

Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683,1687 (1974)

It would have been cheaper and easier simply to give them what they requested as everyone else likely did. Resistance is a waste of time and energy.

good answer Greg. The assessor can make providing the list a condition on whether or not they will renew your license to operate the park

Lively discussion above! :smile:
I see some merit in both points. I too get a little nervous when they ask for all resident names, etc.
For the same reason, that on Frank’s advice sometime back, I declined giving a reporting agency more info on some people we had evicted…

I’ve got 5 parks in Indiana. The assessor in each county expects an updated lists of homes and tenants each year. This is standard stuff in my area.

interestingly you can pay between $25-$100 not to comply

(C) Any person who fails to comply with this section shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4503.062

Paying a fine does not exempt the owner from being forced to comply.

Provide the local government with your income AND expenses by unit? How do you do that when some costs have to be written off over the whole park; rentals and resident owned, legal fees. Unfair if a competitor allocates differently. Sounds like planning for rent control.