Content Area of Guidelines for Living: Refuse Removal through Rights of Management (cont’d).

by Chrissy Jackson

Happy New year! In December's article on the guidelines for living in manufactured home land lease communities, we covered the topics of Number of Residents to Recreational Vehicles, we covered Guidelines for Living topics,  Number of Residents to Recreational Vehicles. Let's get started with our new topics for January, 2012~

Refuse Removal. Does the Community pay for the removal of garbage? What does this service include? How should the garbage be made ready on pick-up days? In trash cans? In plastic bags? What will be taken? Branches? Furniture? Appliances?

Are there special “heavy” trash days for cleaning out sheds and cleaning up the homesites? What about hazardous waste? What days of the week will trash be picked up? What hour of the day? Are there dumpsters? Is there a limit to the amount of trash that will be picked up at a homesite? When should the trash be put out for pickup?

Is there a recycling service – mandatory or voluntary? How do Residents get rid of unwanted items which cannot be put out for normal trash pick-up? If this is a separately billed line item to the Resident in addition to the base rent, is there an option of not taking the trash service?

Rent Payment. What methods of payment are acceptable for the monthly amounts of rent that are due? Personal checks? Money Orders? Two-party checks? Payroll checks? Cash? Out of state checks? Checks from friends or relatives? Where should rent be paid? What is the mailing address? When is rent due? When do late charges begin accumulating? At what rate? Will partial payments be accepted? If there is a previous balance due, will money paid be applied to that or to the current month’s rent?

Repair Responsibility. Does the Community have rental homes? Who is responsible for the repairs? Does the Community Manager permit the maintenance staff to perform repairs on privately owned homes? Does the Community Manager permit the maintenance staff to be paid by the Resident for work done on a privately owned home? Who is responsible for the repair of a frozen water line? Where does the repair responsibility end for the Community and begin for the Resident? If a home moving in or out causes damage to the Resident’s lawn, who is responsible for the repair? Who is responsible for repairs or upgrades to the electrical pedestal or the wiring from there to a Resident’s home?

Resales. How will Residents advertise when their home is for sale? Will they be permitted to put a sign in the yard? Or in the window? How many signs are permitted? Can they be home made? Is there a size restriction? Is a license required for selling manufactured homes? Will the Community Manager require that the home be brought up to “code” (all homesite violations corrected) prior to approval of a new purchaser? Will the community Manager require that the home be removed from the Community upon resale? Be careful of this – some state laws contradict this option. Does a Resident have the right to tell a purchaser they are approved for residency in the Community if they are approved for financing or if they pay cash? If the Community offers a brokerage service, be sure to have proper forms, and full disclosure as to fees charged and services provided. May a Resident put up a sign at the office advertising their home for sale? Or at the entrance to the Community? Or on the street sign?

Right of Entry. Will the Community Manager have the right of entry onto a homesite for the purposes of safety (checking for leaks) and/or repair of Community-owned utilities? Will this be only at reasonable hours? Will the community Manager have the right of entry into rental homes? With or without prior notice to the Resident? Under what circumstances?

Rights of Management. Most Communities will put a disclaimer of sorts into the Guidelines, stating that the rights of the Community Manager contained within the Guidelines are cumulative, and should the Community Manager fail to exercise any right at any time, it shall not serve to void any other rights. Another disclaimer is to state that any waiver by the Community Manager should not be interpreted as a further waiver of that or any other Guideline.

We hope you are benefiting from this series. Get your “guidelines for living” in manufactured home communities right, and your management in 2012 will be more merry and bright! ##

Chrissy Jackson is President of Chrissy Jackson & Associates, Inc. www.chrissy-jackson.com, President, Florida Writers Association, Inc., www.floridawriters.net and Vice President, Florida Writers Foundation, Inc. Contact her at her website or via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by writing P.O. Box 66069, St. Pete Beach, FL 33736-6069. For Chrissy Jackson's bio, please click here.