Posted by Anne_ND on July 02, 2007 at 05:10:35:
What does your lease with the park say? Typically these things are spelled out in writing. It probably says something about “this document is the entire agreement between tenant and landlord”, in which case, the problem is not yours if the lease didn’t stipulate that you pay back lot rent- and it would be very unusual if it did.
Sounds to me like you are needlessly worrying over this.
Anne
Can he make trouble for me? - Posted by Jack
Posted by Jack on June 28, 2007 at 22:06:02:
I bought a MH from a guy and have moved in. Here’s the story.
The guy I bought it from (Investor), bought it from the bank as a repo. He never lived there, but fixed it up very nicely. The prior owner (who skipped town) owed $1200 back lot rent.
The investor told the MH Park he would pay the back rent. I think the bank sold it to him that way. He also accumulated 2 months of back rent when he was fixing it up. He told the manager he’d pay it all after he sold it. He never signed any lot lease agreement with the park, though. There was never any signed contract between them.
So he sent me to the park manager to get qualified for the park, and I qualified. I signed a lot-lease agreement, paid the first month, and after my MH loan closed, I moved in. It’s now my MH and my lease.
I found out that the investor has not paid the back rent as he said he would. It’s only been a week, so maybe he’s still planning to pay. Is there anything the park manager can do to me if he doesn’t pay? Can he make me leave?
Re: Can he make trouble for me? - Posted by Dave Swett (CA-ME)
Posted by Dave Swett (CA-ME) on June 29, 2007 at 18:51:46:
Better to get into this discussion with the MHP manager sooner than later. You will have to live face to face with this manager and if he associates his lost rent with you and the investor, he might make you very uncomfortable.
The issue is that your investor did not perform as he had promised. You can’t blithely say it is the investor’s problem; no one ever sees the investor–they see only you in the MHP.
But you have control of the monthly cash flow. To whom are you going to make your monthly payment? I suggest that a possible solution is for you to pay 50/50 with half to the investor and half to the MHp until the bill is paid in full.
Of course, you would get 100% recognition of all monies paid as a credit against your IOU to the investor. Have the two parties write up an understanding of the lot rent payoff and have all three people sign it. Make copies of all your check payments.
What I do for declining balance IOUs is to mail a payment book back and forth between the parties–this would be between yourself and the investor.
This is business; do not let it slide.
Good luck,
DJ
Re: Can he make trouble for me? - Posted by osupsycho (OK)
Posted by osupsycho (OK) on June 29, 2007 at 06:23:10:
Jack,
First off it sounds like you are not an investor but instead just someone who bought a mobile home to live in so if this is wrong then disregard the rest.
If all you did was purchase the home and there was no agreement of any kind that says you have to pay the back lot rent, then you shouldn’t. Technically the park is SOL because they don’t have anyone legally on the hook for the back lot rent as the investor never signed a lot agreement and it was prior to you being an owner. Legally the manager can only hold you accountable to anything you have signed, which as you explained, should just be the lot rent from when you got approved going forward. You might want to double check the paperwork just in case though, to make sure something about back lot rent was snuck in. I doubt anything like this happened but if the manager is unscrupulous then you who knows.
On another note if the “investor” does not live up to his agreement with the park and pay, I would like to hear where you are located and his name. That way the other investors can avoid something as unethical as that.
Hope this helps,
Jad
Re: Can he make trouble for me? - Posted by Jack
Posted by Jack on July 01, 2007 at 22:27:44:
Thanks for the comments, DJ. But I don’t think I explained it well enough. I got a new loan from a bank and paid the investor cash for the MH. The investor is now no longer involved in the deal. He sold the MH to me and he has his cash.
I am now the owner, and I am the one that has the land-lease signed with the park.