Small park owner here. I have a wanna be landlord who has acquired two mobile homes in my park. He will not sign a lease and has not paid a dime. I have not allowed anyone else to lease out a home, and I’ve also always advertised no foreclosures, evictions, or repossessions. (He had a house foreclosed on last year and has various other active small claims things going on against him from looking up court records.) No one lives in these trailers, they don’t have power, and they need repairs.
My normal eviction attorney doesn’t know trailers. The two guys he referred me to don’t have time. I have a 4th attorney a friend recommended who usually does like DUIs or something, but for $500 he says he has some ideas–I suspect to gain ownership of the trailers. This 4th attorney was good at bluffing and intimidating someone for my friend but that isn’t likely to work with my problem.
I just handed a 5 day notice for nonpayment, but I don’t feel like this is really an eviction per se. Could this be some sort of storage lien for title? I just want quick with minimum expense, the trailers are POS and could be gone for all I care. I’m in Champaign County, IL.
@Sisyphus
I am also a park owner in central Illinois…
I am in the same situation. Since March 17 2020 Governor JB Pritzker has had the courts essentially shut-off to landlords. We are not able to file a Forcible in my county…and even if you found a way to file, get a court date and a judgment - the Sheriffs Dept is not going to serve it and allow you to take possession of those mobile homes. BUT, if you find a way = PLEASE let us all know.
I have a small handful of residents who are taking advantage of the Governor’s Orders and have not paid their rent for 14 months now; one guy managed to buy a new pick-up truck while not having any money to pay rent. (He kept his other truck too - so now there are more vehicles parked everywhere!) I would love to post a photo for you to see how disrespectful he is to his neighbors and all of the park residents.
The Left has made theft “legal” in Blue States! The Theft = free rent & making contracts not enforceable.
I say this because I also own/operate in Red States…the rules are not the same!!
@JAY-E
I have contacted multiple attorneys to try to navigate through JB Pritzker’s Illinois moratorium language with no luck. The Governor’s eviction moratorium will most likely be determined unconstitutional, but when??? The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows: “Nor shall private property be taken for public use , without just compensation.”
I am a member of the state associations where I am an owner/operator. I have been in contact with the IL Association and I not seen any evidence that the IL Association has the “secret sauce” to go around the Governor’s eviction moratorium.
Sorry to hear about your dilemma. I have the same issue - a former “park greeter” who acquired 2 homes (thinks he owns 3) and collects rent from the tenant but does not pay lot rent. We are also similar in that our long term attorney in that county just stopped doing evictions and no other attorney wants to do them.
However, despite the dilemma, I have good news for you. You indicated that you “don’t feel like this is really an eviction per se,” but it is. You have a tenant, he didn’t pay, and there is no more to it than that. Forget about who owns the home because you are evicting on the grounds of non payment of lot rent. I would find an attorney and file. If you cannot find an attorney under reasonable terms, I would call the court clerk and ask about a pro se eviction (e.g. DIY).
Once the eviction is granted, you will have to pursue home ownership separately. I have found that most lawyers are not experts in claiming title to abandoned mobile homes, so I typically research the state laws and learn how to do. Typically you file notice to the last known address (put notice on door), file notices of auction, advertise in the newspaper of auction, then conduct an auction. No bidders will bid, so you get the home. Then, you file with the BMV and get a title. For homes that are in poor condition, I have heard of cases where they have simply disappeared to the landfill without going through the abandonment process.
On a practical note, the eviction and abandoned process takes months, so you may want to negotiate to forgive past due debts and pay $500 if he signs the titles to you. If he won’t, you have to follow the process in your state.
The moratorium is expiring soon and with Covid on the downfall, the CDC allowing the vaccinated to be without masks, and the unconstitutionality determination of the mortarium, I do not see it extending again.
I own a park in Peoria, IL. We have 4 abandoned homes and are in the process of filing eviction and then take possession to dump. We were able to do one eviction last month. You need to first serve in person tenant with CDC notice, If they don’t reply within allowed time on form, then you serve 5 day notice which will then allow to process eviction. We tried to do a second eviction and the problem now is that the judge is breaking the CDC rules and allowed our tenant to file it in court even though they did not reply to us on time. Now judge wants us to prove her income which we have no way to do since its private information(we inherited this tenant). I agree that Blue states are a joke in protecting private property and having a free rent party. Hopefully this moratorium will end soon but there are rumors that Pritzker might extend till December 31st.
We can’t file evictions for non payments here either. BUT…we CAN file for evictions based on not following the rules. We’re giving anyone a notice for every single rule they break. The park rules specify certain things they cannot do, so we’re getting evictions that way. Yards not be cleaned up or mowed, causing disturbances in the park, etc.
Check the law but you should be able to give a 30-day notice to vacate. When you go to court take an application, if you want her to apply, or just ask for your land back.
Just some brain storming here.
I would first offer keys for cash as suggested above. If that fails, you say there is no electric, no water hooked up, and trailer are POS’s. Perhaps call the county health department and have them condemn the trailers. Then figure out the next steps to have them legally destroyed. Caution, be sure your park is otherwise good shape, you dont want the inspector picking on things you have control over. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Just file the eviction yourself if you cannot secure an attorney. As long as you have your docs and evidence, should be good. Also, point out this wannabe’s legal history to the court.
I also have an investor landlord subletting out 2 homes in one of my MHPs. No problems over last 3-4 years. Guess I screened well and laid down the law early, which helped.
