Posted by greg on March 09, 2002 at 14:26:09:
Good idea but I don’t think this fellow can find enough cash or whatever to do it. If I can get him out I think I have a buyer who would pay $2500.00. It is a handy man special at this point. Pipes broke, etc.
where do i stand legally??? - Posted by greg
Posted by greg on March 08, 2002 at 16:53:06:
I’ve got a bit of a dilemma. Sold a MH recently for $500.00 down and a note (18 payments @$270). Anyway, when I got the down, this guy had forgotten to purchase insurance. I told him to go get insurance and then I would transfer the title to him and name myself as lienholder on the title and me as loss payee with the insurance. Well he never got around to getting the insurance and I therefore never transferred the title. He is now 3 months behind on payments. What is the status of this? Do I own the trailer and he is a trespasser or do I need to take legal action to repossess? It seems to me that since the title is in my name still I can just go boot him out. Any one deal with this before?
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by Lonnie
Posted by Lonnie on March 08, 2002 at 19:22:41:
Hi Greg,
Your questions are covered in DOW. Review chapters 12 (insurance) and chapter 16 (repo). Did you not read the book first?
You should never turn the keys over until all the paper-work is completed. This includes getting a paid up insurance policy on the home.
Good luck,
Lonnie
PS Why did you let your buyer get 3 months behind? Have you checked with the PM, chances are he?s 3 months behind on lot rent, too.
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by greg
Posted by greg on March 08, 2002 at 22:28:50:
I know I blew this one 
This shows what happens when you get away from the fundamentals. This was a 1966 10 X 50 that I couldn’t sell…I never should have bought it in the first place…it sat there for a couple of months while I paid lot rent. I gambled on the buyer who was a young kid who was going to buy it and fix it up. He gave me a down payment and paid a couple of months lot rent. He has done some work but not a lot. He got this far behind because I can’t find the swine. Anyway…looks like I better reread DOW and stick to the basics. I won’t give the keys to anyone again without proof of insurance among other lessons I’ve learned from this.
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by Jim(SC)
Posted by Jim(SC) on March 09, 2002 at 12:46:39:
Hi Greg,
I’m a newbie and was just wondering if you would elaborate as to why you say you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place.
Thanks,
Jim
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by Tony-VA
Posted by Tony-VA on March 09, 2002 at 07:09:05:
Now is not the time to quit. This home is ready to make you more money. You have, and will continue to learn from this home. From the sounds of it, you now need to learn how to legally repossess the home. This is something you needed to know anyway. Once you do it the first time, you will have the confidence and ability to not allow time to escape you again.
You have taken some money from this home but now it is time to take action, get someone in the right way and make even more money.
These are just lessons learned the hard way. Yes, many could have been avoided had you stuck to Lonnie’s teachings but that is neither here, nor there now. Simply address the problems now and get that note performing again.
It happens.
Tony-VA
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by JohnBoy
Posted by JohnBoy on March 08, 2002 at 23:22:46:
If this is such a headache for you owning the MH because you have such problems with selling it, then see about getting this guy to come up with a $1k bucks or something and just let him have the title and be done with it! He gets to keep the home and get clear title and you get rid of this headache!
If he can’t come up with all the money then see what it owns that you would be willing to take in particial trade. Car? Motorcycle? Boat? Anything of value? At least you don’t get stuck with paying on going lot rents while it sits empty for long periods of time while trying to find buyers.
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by Jim(SC)
Posted by Jim(SC) on March 10, 2002 at 06:35:57:
Just want to say thanks for sharing your knowledge. Like I said, I’m new and I haven’t yet decided to jump into this type investment. I’ve been keeping tabs on this site and learning about the business for about a week now and I’ve got my “DOW” on the way. Thanks again.
Jim
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by greg
Posted by greg on March 09, 2002 at 14:15:48:
I shouldn’t have bought it because it is so old and small that it is outside of the parameters of a typical deal. I have bought 14 X 70s before as old as '72 but never a 10 X 50 as old as this one. I also paid more than I wanted to. It is real hard finding anything that is in decent shape that is not too old and can be purchased for around $4000. I got a little desperate when I bought this one and should have walked away.
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by EWest (MI)
Posted by EWest (MI) on March 09, 2002 at 13:02:25:
The reason he is saying he shouldn’t have bought it, I believe, is because it is older than what you would like to look for since the typical lonnie deal mobile home should be 10-20 years old and from what I have seen driving around my area I could probably go down to the mid-70s but that would be it, and it is also very small. You want to get try and stick to 12 or wider. The typical mobile home in my area thats advertised in the paper is usually 12x70.
Just the thoughts of a gonna-be
EWest (MI)
Re: where do i stand legally??? - Posted by greg
Posted by greg on March 09, 2002 at 14:22:43:
Tony…this is my second buyer on this dump. I repossesed it once before by just talking the guy out of there. This new “buyer” is hard to find and has pretty much trashed it. My question was if I still have title in my name, do I have to repo it like a secured party would? Or can I just tell him he is a trespasser at this point because I have title in my name.
I have a possible exit strategy once I get the guy and his crap out of there. I just don’t want to break the law doing it.