I know how to deal with someone moving in to a home without a background check. Does anyone have any tricks to reduce the occurrence of illegal occupants ? I have it clearly spelled out in park rules and lease that no one can move into park without a background check. I have two evictions in process where illegal occupants is the core issue. I know that once the word gets out about the evictions… that will help for a while. Just wish I could prevent some of this time/money wasting issue. The park is in state of Washington.
I serve illegal occupants with a No Trespass Notice. If they are not tenants they have no right being on the property.
Man did I misread that. LOL…I thought you said illegal immigrants. I must be tired.
This is tricky. I had a clause added into my space lease agreement that defined visitors and occupants. I then give notice if someone is at the home longer than a visitor, stating they must fill out an application to be added as a occupant or they might be not allowed in… They have ‘x’ days to comply. If they do not, I give a ‘legal’ right to cure notice. Then they get served a court date. In court a judge might think your being petty, but in most states there are rules on knowing every occupant and keeping a occupancy list on file in the managers office. We have been asked for this list in 3 states now. Two Federal requests and one local request. Now- In one of our Texas parks we can not give anyone a blanket no trespass notice unless we are a gated community. The judge has ruled the park road- even though it is mine and on private property is a public right of way. So people can walk down the road and onto the lot they are visiting, and I can not do squat. One judge, one county. Every place else I can ban people, but not there.
Why are you concerned about this issue? If the additional tenants obey the rules, and the rent gets paid, why should it matter who is shacking up with who? This is not an issue that drives profitability at all, and I’m not sure why you’d want to evict someone over it at all.Basically, the more people who live in the trailer, the more streams of income to pay the rent. Worst case, you get slightly higher water/sewer (and in almost all of the parks, we bill that back, so we don’t really care).So tell me why this is a problem?
When Potential Tenants apply to live in our MHPs, they are required to fill out an Application, pay a Fee and agree to have a Criminal; Eviction; and Credit Background Checks on all Occupants over 18 Years Old.For us it does matter who lives in our MHP. For the safety of our Current Tenants and ourselves we desire to know the Criminal Backgrounds of those living on our property.For us it does not directly impact our financial bottom line. However, it does indirectly impact our financial bottom line. Our Current Tenants do not want to live in a MHP where ‘Visitors’ can become Tenants with no checks and then cause issues within the MHP.Now for one of our fellow MHP Owners it does directly impact his bottom line. He charges extra for every Occupant over his maximum number (as he charges a Flat Rent Amount including Water).Now as how you go about blocking or evicting Unauthorized Occupants we have not gone through the process as of yet.I would suggest the following:- Certified/Return Receipt Requested Letter: Send a Certified/Return Receipt Requested Letter to the ‘Approved Tenant’ stating that either his Unauthorized Occupants go through your Background Checks or they leave. If they do NOT comply with your request, this is their 30 Day Written Notice that they will have to leave your MHP. If you do not want these two Events tied together, do them separately.We wish you the very best!
We have a clause in our lease stating that management must be notified when any guests intend to stay longer that 3 days. We do this to protect the residents of our community and ourselves. All residents must be screened therefor all guests must be identified and the resident be reminded they are responsible for all actions of their guests.We find that although residents are generally mindful of the rules guests that stay over rarely are and will cause the most problems for other residents. More noise, more vehicles, more traffic, more visitors, more dogs, more use of water and sewer etc. Additionally we have screened to insure our residents can afford to live in the community without the need to bring in boarders to pay their rent. That type of resident we do not want. Our financial bottom line is driven by the quality of our community. The reputation we have translates directly into the resale value of our residents homes as well. Our desire to maintain a high quality community where people want to live in piece and quiet requires that only properly screened residents be permitted to live here. Family and friends are welcome to visit but only registered residents may live in the community.
Illegal occupants are frequently people who are felons or have radioactive bad credit.Many don’t apply because they know they won’t pass.( I won’t take a 400 credit score because not paying their bills is a lifestyle for them) My latest problem person threatened another tenant with a sword. Police called and report filed.( I gave illegal occupant opportunty to apply…they refused.) I know all steps to get rid of an illegal occupant. I just wish there was a way to discourage tenants from even trying to sneak someone into park. Unfortunately, the very thing that makes rent collection easier for me ( having tenants pay at bank) also makes it easier for a tenant to move out of a home and let others pay cash in his name. I had a unit where the absolute worst low lifes in a small town where using a home as a drug den/crash pad…disturbing about 5 other homes. I finally bought home to shut down that circus. The same family that brought the swordsman into park tried to sneak a pedophile Uncle of theirs into park in 2008. To use a medical analogy…I’m seeking a vaccine not a treatment regimen.
We evict all illegal occupants when we find out about them. Many of them hide from us, so it’s an imperfect science. Of course we give them an opportunity to apply and be screened. But many of them do not fill out an application even when we give it to them, and so we have to protect the residents in our community from such folks that refuse to let us check their background. We simply can’t get in a lawsuit in which we knowingly allowed a stranger to be in one of our communities, and then they turn out to be a child molester or violent felon.Also, if the illegal occupant is a home we are RTO-ing, then the more occupants there are, the more likely it is that there will be damage to our home - especially if the situation is someone turning the home into a boarding house. I’m more concerned about having a few extra adults in a home, than a few extra kids. Families tend to take better care of their (my) home. Roommate situations are bad enough, let alone when you have one or more of the roommates that refuse to let their background be checked.Evict promptly everyone who won’t let you check their background. You’ll create a ‘virtuous circle’ for yourself and your residents. They’ll know you care about the safety of the community. Word will spread among the right kind of families, and you’ll get your community full with responsible residents.Good luck,-jl-
That is the real key to keeping out undesirable visitors- Responsible Residents. Thorough screening with quality standards is the first step to avoiding ongoing issues.Quality of residents and quality of community go hand in hand therefor screening standards are set to reflect the owners end goals. There is a vast difference between those that want to live in a community and those that have to live in a community.