350 space MHP on Indian Reservation Land

mobile home university
#1

Today I spoke with an owner of a 350 lot park located in California on Indian Reservation Land.

Does anyone have any experience with Parks on reservation land?

I’m assuming that unless you’re a member of the tribe that the Reservation is on, you won’t own the land, but that’s only a semi-educated guess.

Thanks in advance for insights.

#2

It’s a land leased property typically a long term lease. Be careful with these as the ones in AZ have been emptied out and taken over by the tribe when the lease ended. There was a whole bunch of lawsuits by tenants against the owners due to not getting enough notice.

Typically these land leased parks start emptying out once you hit the 10 year mark on the land lease. Land lease also makes it difficult to make any improvements, investors are often forced to be slumlords since improving the property is often a money loser when the lease has a limited time left on it.

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#3

Great feedback. Appreciate the insights. Have a couple other questions for you will PM.

Thanks again!

#4

On the reservation here in NC you have to be Native American to own land. They do land leases up to 99 years depending on the property. Not sure how it is out west, but here they have their own police dept, court system, and the chief/tribal counsel ultimately make the laws. Generally it is in your best interest to find a tribal member to be a partner in most business ventures on tribal land.

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#5

Also consider that if you have to evict it may be in a tribal court. Yeah, not touch that one,

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#6

@Corbay and @jbuchanan24 thanks for the feedback.

Here’s some more detail I’ve found. Not complete, still investigating:

  • park is on Native Land and NOT subject to state or county rental laws
  • if the owner sells the land is deeded to the Fed and will be ‘allotted’ to the buyer
  • it would be governed by county law after it is taken out of trust and put into simple fee
  • there is a level of tribal governance, unclear on the extent of that reach
#7

Would touch that with a 220’ pole, but guessing you already figured that out.

#8

Lol yes, going to get a legal opinion this week from a lawyer specializing in CRE on tribal land, which should put this to rest :grinning:

#9

There are several parks on native land in southern Ca that have massive deffered maintenance and have been all over the news in the last year or so. One has a failing water system with arsenic over the maximum level. The unwillingness to invested could be related to ownership issues, or just running it into the ground.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.desertsun.com/amp/2442838001

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