I just evicted a tenant and found out that he sold his dilapidated home to either a family member or friend. Based on the poor condition, I assume the buyer is also a deadbeat. I don’t want to have to start the eviction process all over again with the unauthorized tenant. Does anyone have advice on how to prevent the buyer from moving in? Can I have him arrested for trespass if he owns the home but didn’t request permission to be on the lot? At the least, I was going to leave the utilities turned off from this home as the prior tenant left a large unpaid balance. Thanks for any advice you may have.
How did the home become dilapidated? That aside your Park rules should stipulate that homes must be inspected for proper upkeep and maintenance prior to occupancy, and any repairs must be resolved in advance.
If you don’t have any rules related to any of this then you need to update those, send them out, and then set the standard for exterior maintenance on the homes.
I don’t know how it became dilapidated but that is not the issue. I do have rules, but that doesn’t keep the new tenant from moving into the unit in the middle of the night against the manager’s knowledge.
Have a conversation with this person and let him / her know that they are not allowed to be there and that they have choices: 1) Leave and don’t come back until your Park rules have been satisfied; or 2) Offer them a small amount of money to buy the home and for them to leave on their own; or 3) If those don’t work then you must begin the eviction process for the home to be moved off the property - at which point they will either abandon it or move it.
If you have any other homes that are dilapidated you should motivate the owners to clean those up in accordance with your rules or you risk attracting additional deadbeats.
I have served individuals with a no trespass notice to stay out of the community when they are not registered tenants. Any one may buy a trailer but only approved applicants may live in the park.
If the police will not prevent them from entering then you will have to evict.
Had the exact same thing happen last year. Tenant was upset with our new park ownership & rules and he sold his home in need of repair dirt cheap. He knew we required background checks and purposely sold it without telling us. The new owner never surface for three weeks and when she finally did, she had no idea of our requirements. We gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her stay until the background check was complete but let her know that we would proceed with eviction if it didn’t pass. She claimed we would have no problems and that she understood and that she should have thought to contact us and she was as much to blame as the seller of the mobile. Fixing the mobile to our standards would also be mandatory and she stated she had big plans for that already. However, she failed the background check with flying colors and we proceeded with eviction. She was furious and it wasn’t a fun 30 days but that was our state requirements. She made sure to make life for us in her last 30 days very difficult but as her time in our park came close, she finally sold the home the right way with our involvement and to someone who could fix it up and be a compliant tenant. Although that episode was not fun, it set the ground rules that we won’t be bullied into letting our tenants run the show. Good luck!