I recently purchased a park with 130 lots, managers that admittedly let their “friends” get away with breaking rules and some rules were NEVER enforced (e.g. one indoor pet per household, pets required to be on a leash and attended to at all times while outside the home, cleaning up after pets, disposing of garbage timely, etc…many tenants have 3 - 4 dogs and 2 - 3 cats, leave dogs outside all day barking, let dogs roam free in the park pooping all over the place, garbage piled up outside their home (months worth…disgusting and unsanitary)… I could keep going.). Those managers are gone! It’s obvious why the park owned homes next to the messy tenants have been vacant for some time…nobody want’s to live next to a dump.Overall, this is actually a fairly nice park but I definitely have my work cut out to get everyone to obey rules. I’m in the process of rewriting the park rules and, if any of you park veterans are willing or comfortable to share, I’d love any suggestions that work well in your parks or even a to take a peek at your rules. Also, what are your thoughts on pet and/or security deposits for all new tenants? The prior owner did not collect any deposits. Typically people count on getting their deposit back to put toward their next place and while some may still not care at all what the place looks like when they leave, I think others may be a bit more careful. Thanks so much!Christa
I charge 350 dollar non refundable pet deposit. for more expensive homes none of which I have you can charge 500 or 600.You will need this money do try and remove all the pet odors if they move out, Butif they stay and wind up buying the home, I will apply the pet deposit and security deposit to the purchase price.
I’ve always collected security deposits and in apartments at least, it’s a major red flag when someone doesn’t. Usually means they are bringing in residents who aren’t qualified and will skip early. For MH rental homes, we usually sought half or full month of rent for the deposit. If you think that’s too much, you could always refund a portion at lease renewal.Check with your local MH or apartment association about security deposit requirements. It’s best practice to keep security deposits in a segregated account away from your operational monies. Since it’s a stable account, you might offer to hold it at a local bank that gives you a loan on the park. Some states require that the interest received on security deposits to be refunded to the residents. Usually you can record it as a credit on their tenancy record, either refunding the money on termination, or applying to any other fees and overages.
Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, but enforcing the rules will yield good dividends for you in the long run.Yes, always require security deposits and/or pet deposits. (Only exception we make is if someone has put down $1k - $2k on a RTO contract, then we do not also charge a pet deposit.) Charging deposits will give tenants a reason to keep their place nice… or at least ‘less trashed’ then they might otherwise treat the house. You probably can’t collect deposits from the folks that are there, but you can try. But definitely everyone coming in should put down a deposit. Distribute a new set of rules. You can see mine at: www.tuttleestatesok.com/forms-jl-
Thanks for the feedback! Jefferson, I’m not able to get the above link to work so wanted to double check to make sure there wasn’t a typo. Thanks!Ccon
Sorry, my mistake on the link. I’ve updated it above.-jl-
Thanks so much for sharing! Very appreciated.