Call me one who did not understand what you wrote but those who did not “pay attention” offered good advice.
As a lender I want to know the status of my collateral and my payor. If someone is kind enough to alert me to the status, I thank them profusely. Who knows, they may keep me informed next time. Since this is a relationship business (and negative information spreads faster than positive) I must especially maintain a good relationship with the park owner and manager.
Even if I plan not to do any deals in this park because it is too far away, I still treat the owner as an ally. I work with the owner to address his concerns about my payor who occupies my collateral. In addition, I will need his approval of the tenant who buys after I repossess.
Let’s face it, your payments may be in jeopardy. Better to address the problem before it gets worse. The ancient Indian scriptures state:
Sold a M/H last September about 80 miles from here. Guy has been paying on time todate and, due to the need for a new furnace in Dec. I renegotiated the note to cover the furnace while bumping the interest to 15% (from 14%). The Park Owner called me Saturday saying this guy & his fiance have been fighting and bothering the neighbors with their noise lately. Then Sat. he took damaged cabinets, mirrors,
glasses, etc. out to the trash pick-up. I told the Park Owner so long as he was paying for the unit he could do what he wants with the contents.
Then I got to thinking and decided to telephone him to see what his intentions were. The phone has been disconnected.
Tried calling his workplace (works nights)and couldn’t get an answer.
What would those with experience do in this matter?
Remember, this place is 80 miles away and I can’t just go there any-old-time. Don’t tell me I should have thought of this when I bought it because it was given to me in payment of a debt.
Posted by Ed Copp (OH) on May 22, 2000 at 14:20:33:
William,
If your name was “City Loan” or “G.E.Credit Corp.”, how involved would you be here? What if the M/H was 300 miles away? My point is that you are the lender here and that is probably all you are unless there are other terms in your agreement that we do not know about. If the borrower defaults, repo the M/H and sell it again. Other than that you are out of the picture…ED
Did you contact the park manager? If not I would ASAP to see if the lot rent is currrent. It appears that the park manager has a problem and so does the home owners. I would then try to contact the home owners, worst case is to drive out to the home, maybe they left town. You need to protect your invest as soon as possible. It sounds like you may have a small problem here, however with problems there are solutions which as investors it is our job to locate and repair these problems. This is why I like to stay within less than an hour from my home town.
good luck, i’m sure the outcome will be successful…
“…because it was given to me in payment of a debt.” This begs the question…has what you received equalled the debt that was owed?
Oh, the PO called? As part of the sales process, did the owner approve this couple? If so, you may want to politely inform the couple that their “discussions” could be in violation of the park rules that they agreed to when they bought the place. Tell them you have no concern about their mortgage payments because they have honored their obligation. You would just not like to see them asked to leave the park because that opens up a whole “can of worms” with his paperwork with you…and because they have been honoring their contract with you, neither you or them want to mess that up.
The idea here is to get on their side of the table, because maybe they do not realize that they are not as “free” as they think they are.
Lastly, if they tore the place up, but they are still making their payments on time, there is not much you can really do except to act as a friend. Explain to them how their attitudes and actions are spoiling your relationship with the park owner.
Sometimes an iron fist inside a velvet glove works…but I’ll leave that to those better qualified.
Ed: Thanks for responding. Your answer was what I felt was the case. Wanted to be certain I was on the right track. You, obviously, paid attention to what you read … unlike the others and I thank you for that as well.