Hi there,
I am closing today on my first park. I am looking for any sample templates that I could use to send in to tenants in regards to ‘new ownership’, ‘rent increase’, or anything else I should have.
Please point me in the right direction. If you have some and could send my way, I would also appreciate that.
My email is dane.espegard@gmail.com.
ANY FORMS IN SPANISH WOULD ALSO BE AMAZING!!
I would send them a copy of your new lease and rules along with a well written letter describing your plan for the park moving forward. (Improvements you are making, rent increase, new instructions for payments, etc)
Don’t send a letter written in Spanish. We speak English in the US. If a tenant needs a translator then there are generally plenty of places they can go do this for free on their own. You don’t want to be sending out a document you can’t even read yourself. There is no need or obligation to take on the liability of a translation here.
Tell the tenants that you plan on making the park the nicest one in that city or town. Tell them exactly who the new manager is and their contact number, as well as what to do in the event of a problem. Tell them specifically how to pay their rent and that you will be sending out new leases and rules shortly (I’m assuming you’re going to do that). And, if necessary, tell them of any other pertinent facts about how you want the park to look and/or operate (such as “we will be making significant road repairs shortly so please bear with us as we make these needed improvements: you may have limited access to your driveway during these repairs”).
Only send this out in Spanish if you know someone who can translate this for you or check an on-line translation. You never want to send anything that you cannot verify is 100% accurate (and computer translation can make for some funny and often offensive bloopers).
Great - thanks for this Frank. Are there any samples that we received with boot camp materials of good example letters?
Something else to keep in mind is that if you do chose to send out a letter in Spanish to Spanish speaking residents you do not want to be accused of discrimination you should also send letters to all other residents that do not have English or Spanish as their first language. If this is not practical only communicate in English.
This topic has been well discussed by the Texas Association. Here is the thing:
If you advertise in Spanish, or offer anything in Spanish, you are obligated to put everything in Spanish. That includes any conversations with the residents.
There is an earlier thread on this.