Eviction: unit on leased lot

I have owned a mh park in AL for 20 years. In the past if I wanted someone to move their unit, I simply told them they were to move within 30 days. No problem. However, in the last few years I have experienced problems.

My question is "What is the best way to remove a tenant who owns the unit,

if they are not abiding by park rules"?

Thanks for your input.

In Missouri the process is the same as if tennants were renting a house from you, however, an additional 60 days is required by law to be given to the tennant before sheriff is to enforce judges writ. If all goes as timely as possible (hearings, process servers, ect.) 120days…real world conditions 150-180 days…if you are dealing with a really experienced crook they can probably delay and stall another 30-60 days.

We have evicted three tenants who owned their own homes over the last 6 months and are working on the 4th. We are in Alabama.

Perhaps we were lucky, but we wrote them letters about their rule violations; when they did not then do as we asked, we gave them the standard 7-day notice. At the end of 7 days we took copies of the notice and the signed lease to our attorney. When the attorney files the paperwork, the Sheriff delivers the eviction notice. (This has proven to take the longest.) The tenant has 7 days to reply to the notice, if they do the judge schedules a hearing. If they do not reply, the judge issues the eviction. All moved out, including their homes, before the Sheriff could come make them leave. Two of the tenants actually replied to the complaint, but no hearing was held since they had moved on.

If you are evicting someone because of rule violations, you CAN collect rent. If they don’t pay, then you have another eviction reason. They still owe lot rent as long as their home is on your property - you just may not be able to collect it. In our case, we just wanted them out and forgot about the money. Getting these people out helped us attract better buyers because the park looked better, and ultimately take in more money than we would have with their trash.

I have run into the same problem in two different states and have heard of others encountering a similar problem.

We can get the summary ejectment (essentially the eviction) and writ in reasonable time but the Sheriff dept. view this like repossessing a tv. They want the home hauled away at the park owner’s expense. You may even have to store it off the property in an approved storage facility. Talk about crazy.

One reason I personally prefer to own all of the homes is the amount of control it affords me. I can evict quickly for non-payment or problem tenant and get the income coming back in quickly. Everyone from the tenant to the magistrate (or judge) to the Sheriff understands this type of eviction so there are few if any surprises.

Just something for some states to keep in mind.

Tony

Thanks for your reply.

Did you have to have the home removed from the lot?

Do you know the procedure for accomplishing this?

When these people moved out, their homes moved out too. That is why I said maybe we were lucky.

We have had great luck with the City of Troy in condemning homes - they are more than happy to do this for us. Once they do it, we have 30 days to get rid of the home, and as the property owner it is our responsibility to do so. We have a guy who will tear it down for the metal and stack everything else beside the road. The City picks up the trash along the road and charges us $80!

Alternatively, you could offer to buy the home from your tenant - basically pay them to get out of your park. If the home can be rehabbed it could be your answer.

We had six abandoned homes when we bought the park. We have no idea how long they were sitting here like that, or why the people left. We have torn down two of them and now own and have rehabbed the rest. None of them had titles since they were from before Alabama started issuing titles. The Probate Office told us to get bills of sale from the prior park owner…that is all it took.

Now on the flip side, we have a home in here that has a Greentree lien. We evicted the person living in it (not the owner). The park records showed that no one had paid lot rent on this home in a LONG time. We contacted Greentree and have been round and round with them. The owner finally stopped making payments, since we would not allow anyone to move back in, and this home is about to hit the repo list. We considered having the City condemn it, because it is certainly eligible (and they told us they would.) It is in really bad condition inside and has broken water pipes outside. Lot rent alone for the last 14 months since we have been here @ $175 per month is extensive. It is a 1996 2 bedroom and CAN be rehabbed, so we are hoping Greentree will be reasonable since we let them know of the issue back in February and sell it to us for very little money. It is on a shorter lot and would be worth keeping it in the park.

Thank you so much for your input.

My wife and I are planning to come to MOM in November. I hope we can get some info and turn our community around.