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When
Park Owners Redevelop, Tenants May Have Few Options
After decades of operation, the residents of Hillside Mobile Home Park
in Bexar County were given 30 days notice. The land was rezoned for commercial
development and being cleared. Three days before the deadline, fewer than
half of the residents had been able to arrange to move their homes.
Each of the households has been disrupted by the action. Cesar Martinez
laments the lack of warning. He thinks with more warning, he could have
saved enough to purchase some land and move his home. He is still paying
installments on his home.
Henrietta Castanon, a 86 year old resident, sold her home at less than
a third of its appraised value. She moved into a home already occupying
a lot in another park. Another elderly resident, living on a Social Security
check of $500 per month, received offers of aid from local moving companies
after her plight was aired on a television newscast.
Rae Jean Alonso moved to an apartment building, abandoning her yet unsold
home. Keeping her son in the same high school was a priority that limited
her moving options.
Dana Walters, a 44 year old nursing student, had trouble getting other
parks to return her calls looking for spaces. Her other attempts to find
help were also unsuccessful. Walters contacted the [Texas Manufactured
Housing] Association but received no help. "These people only represent
the (park) owners."
Source: "Zoned Out of a Lot ; Mobile-home owners in manufactured
mess,"
San Antonio Express-News, August 27, 2000.
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Park
Repairs
Landlords rent
out spots for placement of manufactured housing. As such, they are responsible
for the roads, sewers, water pipes, and electrical system of the community.
That environment is important to all the residents. Not only is this
important in terms of health and safety (especially for the 37% of all
mobile home residents that are under the age of 18), but the park environment
is an important factor in the value of the home for the homeowner. With
no minimum standards, no lease, and few other options, residents can
be trapped in unsafe or unsanitary living conditions surrounding their
homes.
The National Housing Institute reports: "Mobile home parks effectively
put landlords in the position of local public works director, in charge
of roads, sewers, water pipes, and electrical systems, seriously magnifying
the effect of an owner who neglects repairs. Park owners, like many
landlords, are also known to cut corners when they do make repairs.
[Janet] Dermotty [of Vermont's Mobile Home Park Project] recalls a landlord
who installed an old oil drum in place of a septic tank." Falty
wiring cased two fatal accidents in a California park in 1998.(26)
Control of local utilities is often used by parks as another source
of revenue. Surcharges on water services of up to 9% of the bill are
allowed under current Texas law.(27)
Parks
Restrict Access
Parks often restrict access
based on the age, brand, or size of a mobile home, and on the type of
materials used in construction. Some parks restrict the choice of tenants
by restricting the brands accepted for placement. Colorado Real Estate
and Investment Company (CREICO) has a section of one of their Travis
county parks reserved for homes manufactured by Oak Creek (a division
of American Homestar). CREICO has over 1,800 spaces in Texas in 11 parks.(28)
Tying of products like this not only restricts consumers' ability to
make choices in products, but fear of eviction may limit their ability
to complain should there be a problem with the purchase.
Nelson Mock, an attorney at LACT, recalls such a case. A client had
purchased a used mobile home from the park owner. Shortly after moving
in, he found that there were problems with the installation: specifically,
the heating and air conditioning were not functioning properly. The
client withheld rent payment from the park in protest, and in return
was given 3 days notice to move his unit off the premises. As more manufacturers
get into the park development business, these types of issues are positioned
to become a larger problem. Texas law puts mobile home owners in a bind
on installation. The home owner is responsible for site preparation,
but if the lot is rented the owner has no control over whether a site
is properly prepared. Studies estimate at least half of major problems
with manufactured homes are caused by improper installation.(29)
New home covenants restrict the options for placement of used homes,
thereby making it difficult to relocate from a bad park situation. These
covenants can also be used to force homeowners to remove the home if
the home ownership changes. Due to the high interest rates on manufactured
home loans, the cost of moving a home (including damage caused by transit)
can easily destroy years of equity owners may have earned on their units.
The tying of purchases is not restricted to homes themselves. For example,
"Deerwood," a manufactured home community in Austin, requires
the tenant to purchase from Deerwood a list of items. This list includes
a storage shed, skirting, and deck - all items that are available on
the open market.(30) Once again, consumers
are losing choices.
Parks may require approval from the park management before a new owner
may move into the home. It is not uncommon for park owners or management
to be involved as a bidder or agent on in-park resales. This creates
a potential for abuse of the approval process.
Community
Rules
Parks often further restrict
options through use of extra rules and regulations. Many parks have
a long list of communities rules. These rules can help regulate the
community for the benefit of all. However, rules can also become arbitrary
and infringe upon the rights of the individual homeowner. Landlords
can evict on short notice for violation of community rules.
Some community rules allow the landlord entry (at will) into the homes
owned by the residents. One resident believed the landlord had entered
his trailer and removed property. Less then a year after this dispute,
the landlord evicted him.
Another homeowner was given 30 days notice because park management felt
that drying clothes outside of her home was a violation of community
rules. She was especially upset to leave the many improvements she had
made on her lot space.
The Austin Hills Mobile Home Estates explicitly prohibits its residents
from organizing though the use of petitions. This park also charges
the tenant for any work done on the leased lot but retains ownership
of the improvements. The community rules at this park require the tenant
to give 30 days notice before vacating, but allow management to terminate
the tenancy, effective immediately, for violating any part of the rental
agreement. Other specific rules include: children must be quiet and
orderly, and bikes may not be riden to the community pool.(31)
Notes:
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26 "Homeowners, and Tenants Too" Shelterforce,
July/August 2000, National Housing Institute.
Internet Source: http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/112/rosenbloom.html
27 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Chapter 291 - Utility
Regulations subchapter H rule 291.124.
28 Internet Source: http://www.creico.com/texas.html
29 "Final Report," National Commission on Manufactured Housing,
August 1, 1994, p. vi & p. 54.
30 "Home Specifications," Deerwood Sales package.
31 "Rules and Regulations" Austin Hills Mobile Home Estates,
dated 8/97.
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