My employer just purchased a very heavy lift in Alabama. The park is in serious disrepair.
Heavy drug use, tenants and neighbors driving four wheelers through the park, fights, you name it.
We are working on evicting the bad apples and anybody we can tie to the those tenants. The roots run deep and we are trying to prevent them from winding up at another unit under the radar.
We knew what we were buying when we closed on it.
One issue I could use advice on is in regards to dogs. The rules that the previous owner had in place was no animals but several of the leases have a pet addendum where they allowed for pets just for that unit. When reviewing the park financials I found where some months tenants were charged extra for pets but it was arbitrary. One tenant volunteered they were supposed to pay $20 per dog. But I can prove it on paper. Other tenants I see on the addendum they were supposed to be charged $100 a month for 2 dogs but the tenant was never charged. I mentioned the previous owners rules. No rules were ever enforced. Owners were based 45 minutes away and never visited the park or enforced anything. They would sub out repairs to the lowest bidder. They had no problems finding tenants and general had decent collections but that was the only thing they did okay at.
There are numerous dogs running around the park loose. No collar. This park is just outside of city limits so we can not rely on animal control for strays or assumed strays. Some of these dogs we are not even sure who they belong to at this time.
How do we go about addressing the dogs?
My concerns are losing some decent pet owners. We are prepared to lose a bunch of tenants that are part of the drug issue and drama. There are a few dogs in the park that are friendly and do not bark and I would argue the tenant is a good pet owner. They are not my target.
I’m not trying to be the local news headline and I’m leery of everyone screaming emotional support animal, therapy animal, etc all at once.
Sounds like quite a challenge you have in front of you.
Let me preface we allow small dogs in our parks under 25 lbs. Lap dogs. I love dogs and all our park pet rules are designed to protect the pet. Violate those rules and you are immediately evicted. Late with your rent… no big deal we can work with that. Chain a dog to a tree… you’re gone.
As mentioned above you have a lot of work ahead of you. Here is how I would address.
1- Keep your focus on the bad tenants and the cleanout you are undertaking. You will probably not truly fix the dog problem until you fix the human problem. Keep evicting.
2- Send out very stringent pet rules with stipulation that uncollered and unleashed dogs are subject to immediate removal by local agencies- Humane Society, Ruff, etc. To get their support be prepared to make noticeably generous donations. This may not be necessary as you continue to improve the park… just puts everyone on notice. Include a ‘loose pet fee’ if dogs are allowed to run loose. Please use no kill shelters…
3- You need several pairs of eyes in the park. People there know who’s dog is who’s. Get some residents to help you out. You have good people there that want the park to get ‘right’, Once you find out who the loose dogs are… hit them with the loose pet fees.
4- Don’t worry about the ESA stuff. Many states don’t have ESA protections but still have Federal stipulations. Usually to claim ESA they have to provide a letter from a health professional advising of the need. Just note the requirements in Alabama in your pet rules.
This is going to be a long grind. Be firm and consistent but get the bad humans out first.
We had a similar situation in Ohio. It was the wild west with about 25 pit bulls in the park and a lot of drug use. There were at least 8 homes with large cages they kept in front of the home with dogs inside. They had permission from the previous owner who never visited in 10 years. Most had ESA letters. What helped us is that the same people who had the violent dogs would often break the park rules. They can’t help it. So the ones we evicted weren’t for dogs, but other reasons. Within 6 months of taking over the park we were able to evict 17 homes. We evicted 9 in one day. Also remember that an ESA letter doesn’t protect violent or misbehaving dogs. They still must be well behaved.
There were a few clever tenants that took longer to evict but they also couldn’t help but break other rules. The last one was a drug dealer who always paid his rent on time. We evicted him for a violation that occurred a month BEFORE we took over the park. He had run from the cops by driving between homes and put tenants at risk. Once we found out about it, we posted his 2nd material violation within 12 months and we posted it with just days to spare. On the day of the court case his two 80 lb pit bulls got out and ran free inside the park while we were in court. Our onsite manager sent photos. He accused us of letting his dogs go in the park (not true) and the judge laughed at him.
Its a different park now with nice tenants. Several have dogs but we require licenses, shot records and $300k home owners insurance naming the park as beneficiary in case of dog bite.
So I have 2 answers:
The ones you want out of the park can’t help but violate other park rules.
Look at violations involving police that occurred before you took over the park.