Filing a Lien On a 21st Mortgage Mobile Home

We’ve just had our first mobile home owner default on us. Their home is worth about $6k and they still have a $26k mortgage against it with 21st Mortgage. They are only into us for 1 month’s rent. I spoke with 21st Mortgage today; they said their remarketing person would be calling ‘soon’ to take care of the back rent.

What sort of reputation do 21st Mortgage have? Would they pull the home out without settling up with us for the back rent? Do we need to file a lien, or can these guys be trusted to pay what their mortgagee did not?

Many thanks,

-jl-

Jefferson

My experience with 21st has always been great and they have held true to their word. My first thought in regards to the vacated home is how to keep it in the park. They dont want to move it as much as you dont want the vacant lot. It will take them time to go through the legal process of default, and during that time I would let them know you want to buy the home. They are going to sell it at wholesale anyway.

Jefferson, state law will differ, here in MO the lender is under no obligation to pay back lot fees, and I suspect that is the case in OK as well.

Also FYI, 21st park lending agreement states that they will never owe any lot fees- maybe previous park-owner signed? At any rate, 21st will either attempt to fix-up and re-market home or if it is too rough will wholesale it.

Jefferson,

You

Friends -

An update on how things have gone w. 21st Mortgage.

Their abandoned home in our community was in such bad shape, we literally could not get any of our repair crews to bid on it. Finally the 21st Mortgage re-marketing person said he had a crew that could get us a bid. Upon seeing the home, even that guy refused to bid. So that left us with an eyesore in the middle of our community.

The 21st Mortgage guy strung us along for months saying they would pay the back rent. They never did. Then, 21st Mortgage conveniently ‘lost’ the initial notice we sent them to start the clock ticking about owing rent, and they refused to pay anything. Then they came back with “I can pay you $1,000, or else things get real ugly.” (This was not a personal threat, this was a reference to their filing a writ to just take the home out of our community without paying any back rent at all.)

At that point, we told the re-markeing person we’d need advice from our attorney, and that they were not to move the home. The re-marketing guy agreed to not move the home while we waited to hear back from our attorney. The very next morning they tried to move the home without paying…! We had our manager block the home with a truck to prevent it’s being moved.

This was the final straw with 21st Mortgage and their lies. That afternoon we had our attorney file a possessory lien for the full amount of back rent - $1,750. Two days later, 21st Mortgage called and wanted to know where to mail the check for payment in full…!

We played hardball and won. Our biggest mistake was not doing so sooner.

Your mileage may vary, but we’d encourage you to stand up to 21st Mortgage; file liens on their homes in your communities, get yourself paid in full every penny they owe you.

As a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, it saddens me to see a company like this in the portfolio that engages in deceptive business practices.

My 2 cents worth,

-jl-

Jefferson,
Have you had any recent dealings with 21st Century since this post? I am curious how things operate with them now that they have the CASH program.
Thanks,
JT

@Jtompkins , as per your post:

  • “Have you had any recent dealings with 21st Mortgage since this post?”

@Jtompkins , we are not Jefferson, but I thought that I would throw our experience out there.

In 2014 a neighboring MHP had a foreclosed upon 21st Mortgage MH in it which needed lots of renovation.

The neighboring MHP Owner encouraged us to bid on the “re-marketed” MH.

We did bid on the 21st Mortgage MH and stated that we would pay the Lot Rent to the neighboring MHP Owner.

We ended up getting a 1999 Single Wide 14x55 MH with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath for $5,000 paid to 21st Mortgage along with $950 Lot Rent to the neighboring MHP Owner.

Our transaction with 21st Mortgage was fairly easy (in the grand scheme of life).

However, we were on the buying end (not the actual MHP with back Lot Rent) and that was 2 years ago.

We wish you the very best!

Jefferson

There are always several ways to look at a problem.

As a lender, I require a written agreement with any community in which I will finance a manufactured home that absolves me of any back or ongoing rent. This agreement gives the community the opportunity to sell the home for me in their community for a commission, and prohibits me from removing the home for six months without a written release. We also have communication agreements that encourage both us, as the lender, and the community to communicate concerns before a problem gets out of hand.

As a community owner, I believe that these kind of charges discourages lending in my community, and I welcome some shared responsibility, in order to get more deals bought - even from my own related finance company. (The captive or related finance company is expected to also be profitable.)

When dealing with any of the larger outside finance companies or banks or credit unions it is important to have written joint venture agreements that protect both parties because of the employees you must deal with. The unfortunate truth is that sometimes employees when under pressure will lie to hide problems they are having in their areas of responsibility. In my experience the employees who are doing this are not only lying to the community owner, but also to their bosses. It sounds like this is what happened to you.

I view 21st as a very necessary player in this industry. I also recognize that some of their employees are not people I like or trust. On the overall view, I think people must understand that, like many other businesses, they are prone to think of what is best for 21st over what is best for you. They still have a few lessons to learn about the importance of considering the long term effect of their actions and management styles on all the stakeholders.

@jtompkins

I’ve been dealing with 21st over the past year+ in several states - taking advantage of their CASH program. The people that run CASH seem to be in a different department than some of the slimeballs I ran into in their Remarking Department (and it got worse since my original post above).

So I’d say ‘go for it’ and get some CASH homes in your community. All the paperwork you’ll sign upfront will get out of the way the chance they’ll yank it out of your community or otherwise be motivated to lie to you. You’ll be on the hook to backstop the mortgage, and they’ll not yank the home (or so it seems).

Time will tell, and your mileage may vary,

-Jefferson-

www.mobilehomeparkinvestors.net