Did you hear "Hoarding" or "Whoring" as a possible manufactured home community issue?

by Nadeen Green

I recently presented at a large conference and was pleased at the attendance at one of my sessions (the competition was fierce – great speakers!).  But I wondered if the good attendance was because I was misunderstood, as I had previously mentioned that I would be touching on a particular topic in that class.  Someone asked me, "Whoring – is that a fair housing topic?"  While a few attendees may have been disappointed because the topic of whoring was not actually on the agenda, I suspect many of them came to the class because they understood that the topic was "hoarding".  

 

Sometimes I think I must be living under a rock when I hear about manufactured home community property management challenges that I have never even thought about.   Not too long ago, I attended a fair housing class (I was a student, not a teacher). The issue I learned about (and which I have since learned is apparently quite prevalent) is hoarding. While I am not sure if there is more awareness of hoarding, or if more people are in fact becoming hoarders, it was obvious that this topic touched a cord with the audience who were quite interested in "what to do" about this.  This was the basis for my bringing up the topic of hoarding in my session.

 

I shared ideas learned from Craig McMahon such as to remove closet and cupboard doors; being able to see their "belongings" may make hoarders more willing to put their things "away." Give specifics when communicating with hoarders: "Nothing may block windows or electrical outlets" and "all food items must be in containers to avoid attracting pests" as examples. 
 

Having seen the interest in this topic, I would like to learn more from those of you with the real world experiences. So consider sharing your hoarding experiences here, particularly if you were able to come up with good ideas to successfully manage through those hoarding challenges. If I someday write an article or create an industry session on this (which is something I hope to do), I will of course give credit to anyone who has provided me with information.  I promise not to hoard your ideas – I will share them with others!
 

With more and more manufactured home land lease communities doing rentals and rent to own contracts, issues like these that arise in multi-family housing will likely become more common for land lease communities.  If we put our heads together, we can come up with solutions that make sense, and comply with the law. # #