Hi all,
I’m exploring an app idea to help mobile home park owners stay on top of environmental compliance (federal and state).
It would:
• Track categories like Water, Septic, Flood/Stormwater, Fire Safety, Hazardous Waste
• Auto-generate recurring tasks with reminders
• Allow evidence uploads (lab reports, receipts, photos)
• Produce a one-click “compliance binder” PDF for regulators or residents
I’d love your honest feedback:
• How do you track compliance now?
• Have you ever missed something, and what did it cost?
• Would a tool like this be worth paying for? At what price point?
Seems like a non-issue to me because there is little to track. Once per year, we submit a water CCR report for private well water. That is tracked in a general task management program that alerts us 1 month before it is due. I cannot think of any need for more sophistication unless you are dealing with a property with huge environmental issues.
If you are trying to sell a compliance app, I think you are focusing on the wrong market.
Hi Melanie, your app idea sounds very useful! Right now, many mobile home park owners track compliance using spreadsheets, paper files, or a mix of email reminders and calendar alerts, which can get messy and lead to missed deadlines. Missing something can sometimes result in fines, costly repairs, or headaches during inspections. An app that organizes tasks, stores evidence, and generates a ready-to-go compliance binder would save a lot of time and stress. I think owners would be willing to pay for it if it’s simple to use something around $20–$50/month could be reasonable depending on the features.
Hey thanks Terry! Would you be up for sharing any specifics? I’d love to make something that’s actually useful and easy to use. For example, what compliance tasks take up the most time right now, or what do you wish was easier about the current spreadsheet/paper file approach?
My guess is that MeIM and terryhicks are in cahoots on this post and that it is not genuine. Terry’s response looks like a staged response in support of MeIM. The fact is that many of the things that terryhicks4 are saying we track using “paper files, or a mix of email reminders, and calendar alerts” are really not that complicated and can be tracked in our property management software. Quite frankly, there is almost nothing to track so there is no need for this service. Rent Manager service issues are good enough. All the other apps (e.g. Buildium, Appfolio) have similar tracking for projects and tasks.
I tend to agree with mPark that for a clean, well-run park, there usually isn’t much environmental compliance that needs tracking. Maybe well water testing, septic pumpings, fire extinguisher recharging, and smoke detector battery tests (if you have POHs).
That said, I’m curious what specifically prompted this idea. Was there a particular issue (refi, sale, inspection, county request, staff turnover, etc.) that made tracking feel painful?
Also, which state or agency do you think this applies to? In my experience, requirements vary a lot by county, and unless you’re dealing with wells or more complex situations, the burden is pretty light.
Also, how would you integrate this with so many different jurisdictions? IE San Diego County wants for 513b, but the State of CA wants for 513a, even though both forms are for the same thing—a mobile home installation acceptance. I am sure the requirement will vary wildly across the Country.