This article appeared in the recent issue of “The Journal, The Magazine for Manufactured & Modular Housing Professionals.” What do you think?
In the ever expanding world of mobile home park liability, it is foreseeable
that our parks will be sued for failure to properly plan for the next
natural disaster. There are a number of cases holding mobile home parks
and other housing providers liable for injuries caused by tenants
I have been thinking of getting a MHP. But when I see things such as the above article, I bring to wonder. I was hoping that some park owners would comment but I guess not.
I am a park owner in North Carolina and my personal opinion is that you can’t let stuff like this scare you off. There are risks in any venture…no matter what you are into.
Natural disasters, domestic incidents, tenant predators are just a few of the risks that are out there. But you can’t let it scare you off.
I think the real value in this article is buried a little deeper. I think the real lesson here is to do what you can within reason to anticipate and mitigate risk. If you notice, the author took some time to suggest some simple steps to mitigate risk and show a reasonable effort to protect tenants when natural disasters invariable occur.
My family has owned our park for over 10 years and we’ve had our share of ups and downs. However, we’ve always worked hard to anticipate and mitigate risk to the best of our ability. I think by taking a common-sense approach to anticipating and reducing hazards as well as having good liablity defense in depth (entity/insurance), things work out just fine.
I hope you won’t let stuff like this turn you off from what is really a great business with some wonderful people.
Sincerely,
Rooster
This article illustrates why I would never buy a park in CA. Great place to live but it sucks being a landlord there.
Rolf
i think i will get on my sopbox now.
this kind of article just goes to show our system is broken. when people can be sued for things they did not do or were even a part of is ridiculous. I am a auto repair shop owner (thats my vehicle for investment capital) and recently a group of lawyers got together and formed a corporation (the consumer watch corporation to be exact) and thier main purpose was to sue auto repair shops on the basis that in some point in time they must have defrauded some consumer. Several weeks before the trial they would contact the repair shop and offer to settle out of court for 2-5 thousand dollars. this is extortion and it was legal. Smoe shops paid it because it was cheaper than the fight. luckily they sued a franchise and several of our assosiations became involved and they went away. but my point is in these days anyone can be sued for anything. dont let them scare you. pay your insurance and hope and pray it is enough. protect your investments through corporations and trusts. and if the @*$! hits the fan start over and do it again. frivolous lawsuits should be done away but until then keep pluggin along. good luck everyone with all your investments.
Merry Christmas
Brian