Those Beautiful *Darned Trees

Many of Oregon’s older and rural mobile home parks are filled with lovely, mature trees. At Wingspread Mobile Home Park in Ashland residents love the stream that flows through the community with ponds and large trees that provide shade and wildlife habitat. And… the trees get big and send out roots that damage streets, carports and buildings. Some become diseased and can become a serious danger in winds and fire. Sadly, not all owners or management companies keep a close eye on their landscapes and the health of trees. Consider the following if you are concerned about tree health and danger. Oregon law distinguishes between trees on common property and trees on individual homeowner spaces. The laws on trees in rented spaces depend on whether the current resident planted the tree or not.

If you have a tree on or near your rented space that is threatening safety or property damage, ask yourself the following questions:

1. If the tree is on your space, did you plant it? If not, the owner is responsible if the tree is a “hazard”. If you planted it, it’s your responsibility.
2. If the tree is on common land, it is the landlord’s responsibility, but the same question remains: Is the tree a “hazard”?

So what is a “hazard tree”? “Hazard tree” means a tree that:

ORS 90.100(20)

1. Is located on a rented space in a manufactured dwelling park;
2. Measures at least eight inches DBH; and
3. Is considered, by an arborist licensed as a landscape construction professional pursuant to ORS 671.560 (Issuance of license) and certified by the International Society of Arboriculture, to pose an unreasonable risk of causing serious physical harm or damage to individuals or property in the near future

What is an “unreasonable risk of causing serious physical harm or damage to individuals or property?” This is a judgment call that the arborist will have to make. Typically, arborists consider whether a tree is likely to fall or have large branches fall.

Here are some possible arguments you could make related to trees you believe should be removed or pruned:

• If you have large tree roots that have pushed up into your driveway or carport or sidewalk, you might argue that these represent a tripping hazard, especially in a park with senior citizens and people with disabilities
• Tree roots can also damage homes or push them into a un-level position- this could be considered a threat of physical harm or damage
• Trees could be a fire hazard depending on their location, age, health and the general fire hazards in and surrounding your park

The law (ORS 90.727) goes on to further state both the landlord and tenant reposibilities for maintaining trees in rented spaces.

The law also says that a common area is considered uninhabitable if the trees, shrubbery and grass are not maintained in a safe manner – see ORS 90.530(6)(c). So hold your landlord up to their legal resposibilties to you.

We love trees! And landlords need to be responsible for keeping us and our homes safe from from trees. Get an opinion from an arborist. Make your request and give them a deadline. If the problem, isn’t corrected, consider mediation or ask your tenants association to take up the tree issues in your park.

Cynthia Dettman, OSTA Board Member

Often LL (landlords) will try to bully and bluff their way through an issue. Let’s hear from Board member Angela Garvin on her experience:

 I will share this because I was so shocked that about the following legal advice given to me by our knowledgable facility attorney when my landlord was threatening to refuse to allow our contractor-of-choice to enter the marina parking lot to work on our home because we refused to sign 100 new “construction rules” prior to beginning some work on our home.  Some of the invalid rules we were being asked to sign were rules we could not afford to agree to without being bankrupted (one was “if at any time management deems your project too disruptive, you will be required to relocate your home off the property within 10 days.”). 

Because we refused to sign these new rules for the landlord to “approve” our construction (which they legally didn’t have the right to do), the landlord was now threatening to call the police and have our contractor arrested for trespassing on private property and violating the property owner’s written restriction of that contractor on their property, IF our contractor tried to enter the parking lot on the first scheduled day of work. 

When faced with the predicament of what to do about the scheduled start time for our contractor to enter the marina on Day One, we were faced with a decision….allow our contractor to attempt entry and get themselves into a possible legal issue of trespassing on private property or confronted by the police, which would of course, most surely, put us in a predicament to lose our contractor on our project and further delay our work, causing us to have to start all over to find a new contractor, OR call off the contractor ourselves.

Our attorney said, the only real way to fight this is to force the landlord to do or not do the thing that the landlord was threatening to do.  He said, if WE cancelled the appointment, then that was our choice to do so.  But if we maintained the appointment with the contractor, and the landlord acted illegally, then we would have something to fight. It’s tough to fight just a threat of something.  He also said that, in his decades of experience with facility landlords is that they threaten often because they usually get away with it.

The day of the scheduled work, our contractor entered the parking lot and the landlord had sent their minimum wage office part-time retired employee to enforce their wishes, and we were there to use our gate key to let our contractor in….the office employee threatened us the whole drive to our home.  But that was the end of it.  We never heard from the landlord again about our contractor’s “trespassing” and our refusal to sign the illegal construction rules.

What lessons can you take away from this and apply to your own situations?

A. Garvin, OSTA President Emeritus

Many park and marina tenants are surprised that changing legislation takes so long. We can all sympathize with tenants who have urgent issues and need to be resolved within the 30-day window that a notice requires. But the truth is that changing state laws takes a trendendous amount of time and changing state laws does not happen quickly.

OSTA participates in the Manufactured Housing and Marina Landlord-Tenant Coalition (“The Coalition”) as our primary means of changing the law to help protect tenants. We worked for two years – from May 2017 until May 2019 – on what became our Coalition bill – Senate Bill 586. SB 586 was approved by the Oregon Legislature in June 2019, and became law in July 2019 when it was signed by the Governor.

Most of the laws in SB 586 go into effect on January 1, 2020 (marina laws around landlord education and registration, as well as the marina landlord and tenant assessments, do not become effective until January 1, 2022).

A Typical Coalition Bill Timeline

Let’s take a closer look at the timeline and activity highlights of our Coalition meetings in support of Senate Bill 586 to understand what goes into take a bill from an issue to a law.

2017

• May 9: Broad discussion of potential issues to tackle for the 2019 Legislative Session
• June 20: Review of issues up for discussion to potentially tackle 2019 Legislative Session
  • Tenants introduced the need for Enforcement of current statutes
  • Landlords introduced the need to make changes to the Termination of Tenancy Statute to make for-cause terminations easier
• No meetings in July or August because the work from the previous 2 years had concluded with the June 6th and 14th passings of our 2017 Legislative Session bills and we take a brief break to regroup.
• September 12: In-depth review of the Enforcement issue and making it easier for landlords to Termination of Tenancy for-cause when a tenant is a “bad actor” and early steps in determining potential legislative solutions to both issues
• October 25: Discussion of the potential ideas for solutions to both Enforcement and Termination of Tenancy for bad actor tenants issues, and an introductory discussion of Marina issues
• November 14: Review of possible considerations for the Enforcement and Termination of Tenancy issues, plus the introduction of the Submetering issues
• December 19: In-depth discussion of the Submetering issue, and further discussions on the Enforcement, Termination, and general discussion about Marina Issues

2018

• January 6: Discussion and review of considerations for Dispute Resolution (formerly known as Enforcement) and Termination issues, and an overview of select Marina issues
• February 20: Review of the Termination and Dispute Resolution issues in draft legislative format
• March 20: Review of the revised Termination and Dispute Resolution issues in draft legislative format
• April 17: In depth review of Marina Issues and identified the need to form a Marina Issues Subcommittee
• May 15: Review of the revised Submeter, Termination and Dispute Resolution issues in draft legislative format
  • Submetering – 2^nd Draft
  • Dispute Resolution – 5^th Draft
  • Termination – 7^th Draft
• June 19: In addition to reviewing revised legislative drafts of the current issues, we began discussing a need to extend the legislative sunsets (expirations) for (a) the capital gains exemption for park owners who sell their parks to the residents or a nonprofit or housing authority and (b) the $5k park closure displacement tax credit
• July 17: In depth negations and discussion about the Submetering issue
  • Submetering – 4th Draft
• August 14: Negations and discussion about the Dispute Resolution issue
  • Dispute Resolution – 6^th Draft
• September 18: Negations and discussion about the Submetering and Dispute Resolution issues
  • Submetering – 5th Draft
  • Dispute Resolution – 7^th Draft
• October 16: Introduction to an urgent issues that arose regarding the Hazard Tree statute and detailed discussion as we approach final decisions on the Termination and Dispute Resolution issues
  • Dispute Resolution – 8^th Draft
  • Termination – 9^th Draft
• November 20: Further detailed discussion as we approach final decisions on the Submetering and Termination Issues, reviewed the work from the Marina Issues Subcommittee
  • Marina Issues – 3^rd Draft
  • Submetering – 6th Draft
  • Termination – 10^th Draft
• December 18: Reviewed the new Hazardous Tree issue in draft legislative format and made minor changes as we approached final decisions on the Submetering and Dispute Resolution issues, then considered adding a fee solution to the Termination Issue (allowing landlords to charge fees rather than terminate tenants for certain rule violations)
  • Hazardous Tree Issue – 1st Draft
  • Submetering – 7th Draft
  • Dispute Resolution – 9^th Draft

2019

• January 15: Further detailed discussion as we approach final decisions on the previous issues, added a fee solution to the Termination issue, and considered an idea for bringing Enforcement back into the discussion in the Dispute Resolution issue
  • Hazardous Tree Issue – 2^nd Draft – Finalized all decisions about this issue
  • Marina Issues – 4^th Draft – Finalized all decisions about this issue
  • Dispute Resolution – 11^th Draft
  • Termination/Fees – 11^th Draft
• February 6: Reviewed the proposed fees solution in the Termination issue, and the added Enforcement solutions
  • Dispute Resolution/Enforcement – 12^th Draft
  • Termination/Fees – 12^th Draft
• February 22: Continued making final decisions on the remaining issues
  • Submetering – 8th Draft
  • Dispute Resolution/Enforcement – 13^th Draft
  • Termination/Fees – 13^th Draft
• March 3: Final drafts reviewed
  • Submetering – 9th Draft
  • Termination/Fees – 14^th Draft
  • Dispute Resolution/Enforcement – 14^th Draft
• March 4: Public hearing at the State Capitol in Salem for the Senate Committee of Housing – The Coalition and stakeholders provided testimony in support of the bill
• March 4 – April 1: John VanLandingham, Co-Facilitator of the Coalition and Vice-President of OSTA worked with our assigned Legislative Council to draft our Senate Bill 586 – amendments were required since The Coalition reached agreement so late in the Legislative Session
• April 8: Our SB 586 bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Housing
• April 17: Our SB 586 bill passed out of the Senate with 33 votes in favor and zero votes against. The bill moves on to the House of Representatives to consider.
• April 18 – 28: Continued amendments drafted for SB 586 to refelct the entirety of what The Coalition agreed to
• April 29: House of Representatives Human Services and Housing Committee hearing on our bill.
• April 30 – May 14: Continued amendments drafted for SB 586 to reflect the entirety of what The Coalition agreed to
• May 16: Final version of our changes to SB 586 is completed.
• May 22: A House work session on the bill and passed unanimously 9 to 0.
• June 10: The Ways and Means (budgetary review) Transportation and Economic Development Committee recommended passage of the bill with an amendment to the full Ways and Means Committee.
• June 14: The Ways and Means Committee passed our bill 18 to 2 in favor.
• June 19: The amendments from the House are incorporated into our bill and the final version is published as SB 586-C Engrossed.
• June 24: SB 586-C, passed the Oregon House of Representatives on a 57 to 1 vote in favor, and must now be sent back to the Senate to re-approve with the amendments.
• June 29: SB 586-C, passed the Oregon Senate on a 25 to 2 vote.
• July 23: Governor Kate Brown signs bill and it becomes law.
  • Most of the laws in SB 586 go into effect on January 1, 2020 (marina laws around landlord education and registration, as well as the marina assessments do not become effective until January 1, 2022.

When you consider the tremendous amount of work in between each session bullet-pointed above – organizing, meeting with park and marina tenants, subcommittee meetings required to further unpack single issues, synthesizing notes and drafting potential legislative language based on the terms we agree upon at each meeting, gaining legislative and stakeholder support – it becomes clear how hard everyone must work together to change state laws.

For more information about an issue you are having or about how to participate in the legislative process, email us at [email protected].

Residents Benefit from Regular Communication

Manufactured Home Parks (MHPs) and Floating Home Marinas (FHMs) that have good internal communication systems tend to be stronger communities. Residents are more likely to know each other, be up to date on information, understand their rights, and be better able to help each other in times of crisis. Why is this important? Residents are at the mercy of their landlords and managers.

We never know when a park or marina might be coming up for sale, or even coming up for closure. A facility with residents who know and care about each other is more likely to have an active tenants’ association. That’s important so you can have the strength of numbers. And we’re seeing more climate crises affect MHPs and FHMs, whether it’s fire or other disasters.

It’s important that residents are connected and communicating to create a healthy community and be ready in times of crisis. There are several options for communication. An intranet group (email group) can serve as an excellent communication system. It’s a private, secure online system that allows residents to send and receive emails, share resources and post relevant information.

At Wingspread Mobile Home Park, residents are enthusiastic about their new intranet system. It’s a great way to get to know neighbors, share resources and ask for help. Maybe you’re sick of emails! Maybe you would rather stick to yourself. But most park and marina residents do want to know what’s going on in their community!

They benefit from sharing resources (plumbers, electricians, handy people, doctors, free community help, etc.). Some folks like to sell, swap or give away household items. And sometimes residents just need help. Parks and marinas have established a variety of communication methods:

• regular newsletters
• a private Facebook group
• a community website
• a telephone tree
• a private park or marina directory with names, space/slip numbers, phone and email contacts – this is typically printed and shared with a “No Spam or Advertising” on it.
• a tenants association or “company” bulletin board.

The beauty of an online system is that it: can be easily administered and updated one email can reach everyone who chooses to participate it’s so easy to use that folks start communicating more and getting to know each other it can be used for tenants associations and resident committees to communicate activities.

Many parks and marinas have newsletters, which is also an important communication system. It can take a lot work, however, and by itself may not build the connections that will truly build your park or marina into a vibrant and resilient community. Brainstorm ideas! You might even have more fun!

Author: Cynthia Dettman, OSTA Board Member

Park and Marina Rules Govern How Residents Use Their Space

A landlord of a manufactured dwelling park or floating home marina must have written rules and regulations about how tenants use the rented space and park or marina facilities, and they must be attached to the Statement of Policy given to tenants when they move in. Rules and regulations are considered to be a part of the rental agreement (which also must be in writing).

These rules and regulations do not need to be the same for all tenants at all times, so long as the rules are applied fairly.

What Kind of Rules Are Enforcable?

Because a violation of the rules and regulations may be cause for termination of a rental agreement, the law places the following limits on the kinds of rules the landlord can enforce. The law states that a park or marina rule or regulation is only enforceable against the tenant if the rule or regulation:

1. Promotes the convenience, safety or welfare of the tenants;
2. Preserves the landlord’s property from abusive use; or
3. Makes a fair distribution of services and facilities held out for the general use of the tenants.

If the rule does not serve at least one of these reasons, the law says that the rule is not enforceable against a tenant.

Additionally, each rule must meet ALL of the following criteria:

1. The rule must be reasonably related to the purpose for which it is adopted, and it must be reasonably applied.
2. The rule must be clear enough to inform the tenant fairly of what he or she must do or not do.
3. The landlord may not impose the rule in order to avoid the landlord’s obligations under the law.

Different Rules for Different Tenants

These criteria allow your landlord some leeway in making and enforcing rules differently for different tenants. For example, a landlord can have different rules for new tenants who move into the facility. The old rules might allow woodpiles in the carport or kayak storage on the decks for existing tenants, while the new rules for new tenants do not.

In addition, state and federal anti-discrimination laws require landlords to make reasonable accommodations to rules to afford tenants with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their dwelling, so, for example, your landlord might allow a tenant who uses a wheelchair to have special parking privileges or a tenant to have a service animal when pets are not allowed.

When a Landlord Surrenders Their Right to Enforce a Valid Rule

A landlord may waive his or her right to enforce a rule, by accepting performance by the tenant that varies from the terms of the rule or by accepting rent for at least three months while knowing that the tenant is not complying with the rule, such as by having a prohibited pet. In other words, if your landlord is aware that you are violating a certain rule and accepts your rent payments for 3 months while the rule is being broken, then your landlord no longe rhas the right to enforce the rule or terminate your tenancy for breaking the rule.

Note, that when this happens, it is important to have evidence to support your claim that your landlord was aware of the rule violation, otherwise, your landlord can later claim that they did not know anything about your violation of the rule when they accepted your rent payments.

When a Landlord Enforces the Rule

A landlord can avoid waiving a rule by giving the tenant a written warning notice. A facility landlord never waives the right to enforce a rule regarding maintenance of the dwelling or the space.

Other Types of Park and Marina Rules

Occupancy Limits

Manufactured dwelling and floating home facility landlords may also issue reasonable occupancy guidelines. If your landlord chooses to have such a rule about occupancy limits, the rule must be based on reasonable factors. Such factors may include the size of the dwelling and that of the rented space. Other reasonable factors to consider would be any discriminatory impact on groups legally protected against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, familial status, source of income or disability, and limitations placed on utility services governed by a water or sewage permit. Any occupancy guideline may not be more restrictive than limiting occupancy to two people per bedroom of the dwelling.

For more information about the laws about occupancy limit rules, see ORS 90.510(7) by clicking here.

Rules About Pets

If your facility landlord changes the rules to no longer allow pets, you may keep a pet already legally living with you at the time your landlord provides notice of the rule change. Furthermore, you can replace the pet with a pet similar to the one living with you at the time the landlord provided notice of the proposed change.

However, new rules about the activities of pets — as opposed to rules prohibiting pets — apply to all pets in the facility, including those living in the facility before the new rule. Keep in mind that any new rule must meet the criteria described above.

If you entered into a rental agreement after Oct. 31, 1997, your facility landlord may not charge you extra for having a pet. However, tenants who own pets and start renting a facility space after that date may be required to sign a pet agreement and carry liability insurance for the pet.

A violation of the pet rules or keeping an unpermitted pet on the premises can result in an eviction (with a right to cure the first violation) and also can result in a fine or fee of $50 or more, for the second or subsequent violations after a written warning, per violation, if the violation relates to an unpermitted pet or pet waste and the pet agreement or the rules allow a fee for that.

For more information about the laws about pets in parks and marinas, see ORS 90.530 by clicking here.

Rule Violations and Fees

Violation of certain other rules or rental agreement provisions may also result in similar fines or fees for the second or subsequent violations, after a written warning. Examples include improper use of a vehicle on the premises (i.e., speeding) or late payment of a utility or service charge.

For more information about rule violation fees, see ORS 90.302 by clicking here.

The Law Prohibits Certain Kinds of Rules

In addition to setting limited and guidelines on the kinds of rules that landlords can enforce, the law also makes it clear which tenant activities a landlord cannot place unreasonable limitations on.

Rights of Tenants to Use the Common Areas

Tenants may use any common areas or facilities for any lawful activity, including tenant association meetings or tenant organizing. The landlord may impose reasonable restrictions on the time and manner of use, including requiring a deposit to ensure that the area is not damaged or left unclean. But the landlord may not require tenants to acquire a bond or insurance policy as a condition for using common areas or facilities in the park or marina.

For more information about the tenants’ rights to use common spaces, see ORS 90.528 by clicking here.

Rights of Tenants to Canvass, Organize, and Assemble

The law prohibits any park or marina rule, regulation, or rental agreement term from:

• Infringing upon the right of tenants to peaceably assemble in an open public meeting for any lawful purpose
• Infringing upon the right of tenants to communicate or assemble among themselves for the purpose of discussing any matter, including but not limited to any matter relating to the facility or manufactured dwelling or floating home living
• Prohibiting any tenant from canvassing other persons in the same facility for purposes above, including door-to-door contact, an oral or written request, the distribution, the circulation, the posting or the publication of a notice or newsletter or a general announcement or any other matter relevant to the membership of a tenants’ association

While the landlord cannot limit these right to organize, the law states that assembling must be done in a a reasonable manner and at reasonable times between 8am and 10pm. The law allows for these discussions to be held in the common areas or recreational areas of the facility, including halls or centers, or any resident’s dwelling unit or floating home. The park or marina landlord, however, may enforce reasonable rules and regulations including but not limited to place, scheduling, occupancy densities and utilities.

However, the law does not state that the landlord must permit any person to solicit money, except that a tenants’ association member, whether or not a tenant of the facility, may personally collect delinquent dues owed by an existing member of a tenants’ association. The landlord is not required to ignore an individual tenant’s request not to be canvassed.

For more information about the tenants’ rights to organize and gather, see ORS 90.750 by clicking here.

Proposed Rule Change Process

A manufactured dwelling or floating home facility landlord may propose rule changes, including those that greatly change the original agreement with a tenant.

• The landlord must simply give written notice of the rule or regulation change to all tenants in the facility not already subject to the proposed rule.
• Unless a majority of tenants not already subject to the rule object in writing within 30 days of the date the notice was served, the change becomes effective for all tenants no less than 60 days after the date the notice was served by the landlord.
• One tenant per rented space may object to the proposed rule change, either by an individual written objection to the landlord or by signing a petition with other tenants. Sometimes a tenant may sign more than one petition or sign a petition and file a separate objection. In such cases, the tenant’s most recent vote will count and the earlier ones will not.

The landlord’s notice must include:

1. Language of the existing rule or regulation and the language that would be added or deleted by the proposed rule or regulation change, and
2. A form or statement describing the tenant’s right to vote on the change and the voting timelines (per OS 90.610[6][b])

A park or marina landlord cannot email you the new rules, post them and tell you that they have unilaterally changes the rules, or publish new rules in a newsletter and begin enforcing them without first going through this voting procedure. (see note below for those tenants on fixed-term tenancies whose rules can change without a vote at the time that their current fixed-term lease expires)

Specific List of Rule Changes Which Are Permitted Without a Vote

Even though a landlord may not unilaterally change a rule or provision of the rental agreement, the law allows a few limited exceptions. The landlord may, without a voting procedure make changes to the agreement to allow for the following:

• Allow the landlord to both mail and post notices at the entrance of tenants’ spaces
• Allow the landlord to charge fees to tenants for rules violations regarding only these reasons:
  • Utility late fees
  • Failure to clean up pet or service/companion animal waste
  • Failure to clean up garbage
  • Parking violations (exception: Marina landlronds may not charge a fee to tenants for parking violations.)
  • Improper use of vehicle
  • Smoking in a non-smoking area
  • Keeping on the premises an unauthorized pet capable of causing damage to persons or property, as described in ORS 90.405
• Pets as described above
• Conversion of garbage service to direct billing
• Convert the method of billing for utilities to the pro-rata or sub-metering method
• Remove hazard trees or access to the space to remove a hazard tree
• Rent increases
• To add the required Mandatory mediation language to the rental agreement
• Changes required by state or local law

Sometimes landlords will seek to change the rules by offering the tenants a new rental agreement with new rules. Existing month-to-month tenants are not required to accept or sign this new agreement.

For more information about the tenants’ rights to vote on proposed rule changes, see ORS 90.610 by clicking here.

NOTE: If you are on a fixed term tenancy, your landlord may impose new rules (without allowing tenants to vote on the proposed changes) at the time the landlord is offering residents a new fixed term lease, if they offer it at least 60 days prior to the expiration of their current fixed term lease. For more information on the laws about new rules at the time of a fixed term lease expiration, see ORS 90.545 by clicking here.

You can find the actual Oregon laws about rules in ORS 90.510(6-8) and by clicking here.

(Note: This information is accurate as of the date of this post (November 2020). It is important to realize that changes may occur in this area of law. This information is not intended to be legal advice regarding your particular problem, and it is not intended to replace the work of an attorney.)

(This post was reprinted from the OSTA Review, Winter 2017-18 edition, Volume 39 – Number 1, and originally written in February 2015 by John VanLandingham, attorney at law and legal editor, with minor formatting edits here to display better in a blog-post format or to aid in guiding our park and marina tenant audience in better understanding their rights. The original article can be found on the Oregon State Bar website by clicking here.)

Legislators are listening. They care about what’s happening in our communities—and they need to hear from us. Join us in December.

From Our Parks to Salem: Homeowners Are Making Their Voices Heard
Something important is happening in Oregon. Manufactured and floating homeowners are showing up in Salem, sitting down with legislators and their staff, telling our stories, and asking for something that should not be too much to ask:

If it’s a law, enforce it.

For years, homeowners have been told about the laws that protect us. But what happens when those laws are violated and there is no meaningful way to investigate the violation or require compliance?

That is the conversation we are bringing to Salem.
It started with homeowners willing to show up. Over the past several months, a small group of homeowners has been working together to bring the need for a real enforcement system to the attention of Oregon legislators.

Homeowners from Twin Cedars in Lebanon, Lakeridge in Eugene, Salem Greene in Salem, Carver Mobile Home Ranch, and Southbrook Mobile Home Park in Salem have taken the time to come together, make calls, send emails, schedule meetings and, most importantly, walk into legislative offices and tell their own stories.

That is what makes this effort different

We aren’t lobbyists. We aren’t professional advocates. We are homeowners who live in manufactured home communities and understand what it means when a law that is supposed to protect us is not enforced.

Many of us are seniors. Our homes are our biggest assets and our communities are our homes. We cannot simply pack up and move when something goes wrong.

So we decided to take our concerns where decisions are made.
What is it like to meet with legislators?
If you have never done it before, walking into the Capitol to meet with a legislator can feel intimidating.
I know it did for many of us.

But we learned something important: legislators and their staff need to hear directly from the people affected by the laws they are considering.
We don’t have to know everything. We don’t have to be experts in the legislative process. We just need to be prepared, respectful and willing to tell the truth about what we are experiencing.

One of the most valuable parts of this experience was having John VanLandingham generously share his time and knowledge with our group.
John helped us understand how to communicate effectively with legislators and their staff, how the legislative process works, and some of the history behind the development of Oregon’s manufactured housing laws, including ORS Chapter 90 and the Oregon State Tenants Association.

John has spent decades working on tenant rights and manufactured housing issues in Oregon. His knowledge helped us understand not only where we have been, but also how we can move forward.
We are extremely grateful for his generosity and willingness to help homeowners understand how to make our voices more effective.

We Are Being Heard

Our meetings in Salem have given us the opportunity to explain why mediation alone is not enough when a law is repeatedly violated.
Oregon currently provides mediation and dispute-resolution services for manufactured home park and marina disputes. These services can be valuable, but mediation is designed to help the parties resolve a dispute; it does not create a statewide system for investigating violations and enforcing the law. That is the gap we are asking legislators to look at.

We believe Oregon needs a Manufactured and Floating Home Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program that gives homeowners somewhere to turn when the law is violated, a system with the ability to investigate complaints, determine whether a violation occurred, and require compliance.

We are not asking legislators to take sides between landlords and tenants.
We are asking for a system where the law means something for everyone.

There is power in showing up

One of the biggest lessons I have learned through this experience is that you don’t have to be an expert to make a difference.

• You don’t have to give a speech.
• You don’t have to know every section of ORS Chapter 90.
• You don’t have to be comfortable speaking in front of a room full of people.
• You just have to be willing to show up.

Bring another homeowner with you. Share what is happening in your community. Tell a legislator what it is like to live under laws that you believe are not being enforced. Ask questions. Listen. Follow up.

And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it alone, don’t go alone.
This effort has grown because homeowners from different communities decided to work together.

A special thank you

I want to recognize the homeowners from Twin Cedars in Lebanon, Lakeridge in Eugene, Salem Greene, Carver Mobile Home Ranch, and Southbrook Mobile Home Park in Salem.

Thank you for giving your time, traveling to Salem, sitting in legislative offices, sharing your experiences and standing beside other homeowners. Every person who showed up helped move this conversation forward. Your presence in the legislative committee meetings was so valuable. The legislature gets to know our faces. They recognize us when we attend time after time.

And a very special thank you to John VanLandingham for sharing his time, experience and knowledge with us. Understanding how to communicate with legislators, how the process works, and the history behind the laws we are working to strengthen has made us better advocates for ourselves and our communities.

This is just the beginning

We have more work to do.
But something has changed.
Homeowners are no longer simply talking among ourselves about the problems we face. We are taking those concerns to the people who have the ability to change the system.

We are building relationships with legislators. We are learning how the process works. We are gathering information. And we are asking lawmakers to look at what happens when Oregon has laws on the books but homeowners have no meaningful enforcement mechanism behind them.

We need more homeowners to join us

If you have ever thought, “Someone needs to do something about this,” maybe that someone is you.

You don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to know everything. And you don’t have to be fearless.
Sometimes you just have to take the first step.
Come with us. Bring your voice. Tell your story.
Because when homeowners from communities across Oregon stand together, we are much harder to ignore.
Your voice matters. Your story matters. And together, our voices can make a difference.

If you need help, have a concern, or simply don’t know where to start, we’re here to help you be heard. Call 541-508-0404, and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.