eviction

[vaangel]

virginia - i had a mobile home that i sold, and the people who purchased it wanted to leave it on the land where it was setting. at the time county water was being run and they wanted to hook the home to it, which was fine, but we told them that if we ran the line and hooked it up the lot rent would be more per month, and if they done it, the lot rent would be less. we tried to be fair with the people, which was stupidity on our part, but we know how hard life is on a person in certain times. so they told us they would put in the water line and take the lesser months rent. out of the 10 months they have been there now, we have only recieved 3 months rent. we have sent letters to them a number of times. finally the last letter we sent, we told them they needed to make up the past due rent. a week later they replied to us stating that it costed 200.00 to get the water to the mobile home and felt we should either extract that from the lot rent, or repay them. during the whole time we were charging them the lower rent. i appoligize, but when it comes to law, i am ignorant in that aspect. so i sent a reply and they have 3 options, the 3rd option giving them 90 days to move the home. was i right doing that? and do i need to get me a lawyer? thanks in advance.

 

[TCB4U2B2B]

Hi vaangel

One point not clear. If I understand you correctly. If you sold the unit, how could you be collecting rent? Are you holding paper? Meaning carrying a loan for them?

If you outright sold the unit, then you should not have responsibility for paying the upgrades they elected to have installed. If your renting the unit and chose to upfront the costs for the waterline upgrade and they fail to pay, it must be stated within the signed agreement. {Verbal agreements do not hold water.}

You stated that the renting party failed to pay 7 months rent? Lived there 10 months and paid 3? If you have a signed agreement clearing stating all the terms and the renters/owners...<???> fail to comply with the terms of that contract, you then have eviction rights.

 

[Cvillecpm]

VaAngel....in Va, you evict off the land just as you would for out of an apt or home. You can file an unlawful detainer at the city/county General District court. You need to provide a 5 Day Notice to Pay Rent in FULL or Quit to them - form is fairly easy to obtain and you can have sheriff or private process server serve it on them.

If you have questions, contact a local RE attorney who does evictions. You may end up with MH again if they can't find a place for it off of your land.

TCB...MH owner usually rents the land under which the MH is placed - either in a MH park for which most states have "residency laws" like L-T laws; or they can be on private land as VaAngel has allowed. She sold the MH and allowed it to reside on her land for which she should have been collecting "land rent".

 

[vaangel]

the people (which are friends of mine and i felt sorry for them) bought the mobile home from me, i financed it for them and they paid it off in a years time. we had a mutual understanding that as long as the home set on my property, they would pay rent, and as i said, i felt sorry for them, so only charged them 30.00 a month. a few months later the county started running public water, and they wanted it. so they had this option, if we put the water lines in, the rent would raise, and if they put the water lines in the rent would remain the same. they are now expecting us to extract the 200.00 it costed to put it in and want us to let them keep paying the 30.00. i know it is not much $, it is just the principle. we had a heart to try and work with these people and they try to do this to us. i don't know if the understand, but we have to pay taxes on the property, and also carry liability insurance on it. so we have to have some kind of rent to cover what we are paying out. right now, i just want them off of it. it has become a big headache. do i need a lawyer to get them off? like i said, i am ignorant when it comes to law. an don't know the proceedures to go through in the state of virginia. thanks so much.

 

[TCB4U2B2B]

Hi: Cvillecpm

Thanks for clearing up the confusion I had with the rent/sale issue. Fully understand it now...

Hello: vaangel

Based upon your personal feelings regarding the issue, I would highly suggest you lay the issue aside, pay the water line installation costs and consider it as a "Property Improvement."

Not to diminish your caring feelings and good will towards the renters, both admirable gestures of humanity but this is often the outcome when emotions become mixed with business.

In my opinion, a valueable lesson learned for everyone to know...

Regards,
TCB4U2B2B

 

[vaangel]

Thanks Cvillecpm and TCB4U2B2B
One thing I have learned is that family and friends will screw you over faster than a stranger will. I have just always tried to be a kind hearted person. It don't get me anywhere, but maybe one day someone will remember that. As for the renters, I found out they lied about their financial situation and was just taking advantage of me. So I gave them the option to pay up, or move the home. I also gave them 90 days to do it in. I think that is fair on my part. Thanks for your advice, it is truly appreciated.
VaAngel