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Hello! I am new to this site but I have a problem and was wondering if any one could help me. First of all I live in the state of Illinois. I have a mobile home that I sold on contract for one year. The purchaser stopped making payments to me and moved out without leaving me with a forwarding address. She also had a for sale sign up in the window. She refuses to deal with me and return my phone call. My question is can I just take the unit back over without notifing her and just evict her with out sending her a notice. I have not been rude with her or anything she just doesn’t want to deal with me. Any suggestions? I did have a attorny send her a letter to pay up but it did no good. What are my options from here. I could really use any comments or suggestions

Thanks

dwatkins

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Dennis,

       Need more information. Did you have her sign a lot agreement? What was down payment. How many payments were made? Did you transfer title. Are you paying lot rent or is she?

Dan Dawson

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Thanks for the response Dan, She is resposible for the lot rent from the date of the agreement which was 10/07 and from what I understand she has not paid that either for quite some time, I guess since 4/08 because that is when she stopped paying me. T he contract was for 1yr at $400 per month with no interest. I paid taxes for 07,08 at $65 per yr. The contract expired on 10/08. I had pre-paid legal lawyers send her a letter to settle and she has done nothing. She has been living in Peru, IL since 4/08 with some guy. I do not have address so I cannot send correspodence to her. She refuses to talk on the phone and gives it to her boyfriend who has been voicing his opinion. He is not the one I sold it to. I am frustrated over this. She has paid all but $960 of the balance. Contract is no longer valid and I refuse to write another for her. What do you think?

Thanks for your response,

DWatkins

P.S. I still have title, it is free and clear

Post Edited (02-08-09 19:02)

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Your story makes my head hurt.

Here is what I do in similar situations.

  1. Call the number on the for sale sign.

  2. Talk to the neighbors.

  3. Talk to anyone whom you think knew the buyers.

  4. Get the application they filled out when they bought the home and call everyone on it, Parents, friends, work, ect.

  5. Go to where you know these people went. Examples would be place of work, friends, places of the buyers other contacts or places they hung out.

If these things don’t work you need to get a better lawyer in order to at least learn the process of evition/reposesion. Usually when you learn the process you will get used to doing it yourself.

I own and manage 4 mobile home parks for a living and I avoid these situations pretty well. The secret? Preventive Maintenance.

Here is a list of items you can do to avoid these situations. This list will make your life much easier. Also your business will be more profitable. This list is more enjoyable then the above list and situation.

  1. Stop by and talk to the buyers. Ask them questions. You can learn lots of things about these people just by asking a few questions and listening. Ask them how work is goin.

Talk to them about current events, the weather, ect.

But you may be surprised at how much people will tell you about their lives. And you get a heads up regarding future problems.

  1. Take applications.

  2. From time to time get them to fill out a “resident contact sheet” This sheet can have general questions like their current phone number and place of employment. I also have an emergency contact on this sheet. Meaning friends or parents phone numbers.

  3. Be confrontable.

Drive by. Stop if you see them. Make sure when you talk top them to make them comfortable. You do not want these people to be scared to talk to you or see you. You want them to know you “don’t bite”. Your just an honest business man who is down to earth. You want them to call you when there is a problem.

I say the words, “thanks for calling” almost anytime a tenant calls. Even if they are calling because there toilet is not working.

If I get the feeling a tenant is having a honestly hard time I may stop by with several bags of groceries. This may only cost $25 and will make a huge step towards a long term customer. Also this customer will most likely respect me more. If they respect me they may feel more comfortable telling me when they need to hit the road. Usually by the time I do this I have collected or will collect much more than this in late fees. I have yet to be sorry I did this. I believe God rewards those to give to the poor. (Proverbs 19:17)

Preventive maintenance is enjoyable and profitable.

I am amazed at how often some of the landlords go to court. Nobody wins when you go to court! Remember that.

Remember:

*You will loose buyers, whether it is a pain in the butt, or a nice profitable transaction! You will loose buyers!

Look at the top list then look at the bottom list. You will have to do one of the two lists when you loose buyers. Why not do the bottom list? Not to mention when you choose the bottom list you still have the top list for a backup to avoid court.

Let them know you buy and sell homes. If this person really wants to sell their home you want them to be the first person they call.

I hope this all helps,

Briton (IN)

Post Edited (02-09-09 06:22)

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That plan of action will work Britton. It is a great mystery to me the people who read Lonnies books and learn how to put these deals together, but completely miss the vital instruction and tips on the human side of the business.

When I read posts by those who are at odds with a PM, and it later comes out that they really have no relationship with that PM. Still others that attempt to deal with their LD customers without any face -to-face interaction I have to wonder if these folks would be better suited as a note-buyers.

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Great post Britton. I would add one other thing: the power of saying “thank you”. It’s free and if it’s sincere it can buy a LOT of goodwll.

I have thanked a few of the parents in my park for how well their kids behave and it means so much to them. The hard-working, worrying parents who are stretched to their last nerve probably never have anyone in authority say something nice to them. I’m hopeful that it also translates into a desire to remind their kids to stay well-behaved.

So far, so good. I’ve got over 50 kids under 11 years in my park, and only 2 straight-arrow teenagers. I made a real effort to speak to each child I see, and treat them with respect. The next few years could be interesting!!

Anne

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Anne,

50 Kids! Wow you do have a task in front of you. It sounds like you know and understand that preventive maintenance (in this case sincerely caring for and respecting these families) can make the next few years much easier. Go get em Anne!

It sounds like you do a wonderful job managing your properties and customers.

It is stories like these that make me realize why we as local investors often do so much better managing parks than these big corporations. The human factor is huge. These children in your park are much less likely to vandalize your property when they reach teenage years. These children are much more likely to tell you or their parents when they see something suspicious around the park.

There are hundreds of situations we could never foresee in which our preventive actions will totally avoid a costly or uncomfortable situation.

So much of our success comes down to these little things that go unnoticed because we prevent them by being aware humans

Keep being a good influence to these children. Not just for your sake but for their sake. This world is getting harder and harder to grow up in and turn out decent.

Briton (IN)