Month: November 2018

This meeting was held at the Tigard office of Multifamily NW with. John DiLorenzo facilitating.

During information sharing, we learned the following as it relates to marina tenancies:

1. The 2019 MH Coalition Bill will include 6 topics. Four of these six topics affect floating home owners in rental marinas. They are:
   • The Marina Issues Subcommittee work – see previous blog post for details
   • Dispute Resolution Issue
   • Terminations – changes to the eviction statute
   • Sub-metering: this affects only a small percentage of marinas and does not seem to be a major issues to our tenants at this time
2. All 6 issues have were given to Legislative Counsel on November 12th (LC’s deadline for us) to begin drafting the actual bill language for us.
   • Our bill language will take the current form of where we were on each of these issues as of November 12th. Because there are still details for us to resolve with these issues, we will need to make out decisions and then do an amendment later.
   • In conclusion, the bill will initially look like these versions – November 12th. If we don’t reach agreement, on a particular issue or the whole package, then the bill won’t go forward as it is introduced, or at all, depending on the status of our agreements.
3. Other work groups are working on legislation which may affect our laws if passed. We have nothing to do with these groups and have no control over the output of those groups. However, those groups appear to be led my senators and representatives who are trying to improve laws for tenants. Senator Propanski’s workgroup was created because of some issues that he is championing to protect tenants. His work is not guaranteed to make it to a bill, but his work (LC 1334 Draft 2) covers the following:
   • Changing screening for ALL tenants to prohibit Landlords from screening and rejecting tenants on the basis of any prior convictions due to weed use or possession.
   • Amending ORS 90.525 to make it very clear that a Landlord cannot steer a tenant towards using a particular service provider or realtor.
   • Requiring Landlords at the time of evaluation of the prospective tenant or the execution of a rental agreement, whichever is earlier, to provide the tenant with a copy of an informational handout regarding rights of tenants and landlords when a tenant is selling a floating home, in a form proscribed by the Housing and Community Services Department.
   • Allowing a tenant to rent out their floating home while it is for sale IF the landlords also has a floating home on the premises which is actively listed for sale AND being rented.
   • Reducing the time required for a Landlord to accept or reject an application from a prospective purchaser of a floating home from 7 days to 5 days
   • Increasing the penalties for violating certain statue laws (including Terminations by a Landlord) from $200 to $500, and from $500 to $1,000)
   • Extending the Statute of Limitations from 1 year to 2 years for certain violations.
4. Post-Election:
   • Oregon Democrats now have a Super-Majority in the House which could have a positive outcome for tenant legislation.
   • 1 Senate seat flipped to Democrat which means we will likely see rent caps legislation back on the table again.
5. We will see Rent Stabilization. We don’t know what form or when, but there is a housing crisis in Oregon right now and there is enough support that it will likely happen.

MH Coalition Issues Discussed:

1. Marina Issues: Final decisions were made on the following:
   • The new resource will be called the “Manufactured and Floating Home Community Resource Center (MFHCRC)” – we now have representation!!!!!!!
     • This group provides services and information to residents and landlords of manufactured dwelling parks and floating home marinas to promote cooperative community relationships and positive alternatives to the court system. Our confidential, neutral and voluntary services provide assistance in resolving disputes by promoting open communication and a positive environment.
     • Check out the current MCRC website for more through understanding about what this group can help floating home tenant with. THIS IS HUGE!!!!
   • We cleared the $10 assessment procedure with the Assessors office which means we can now have access to this resource, dispute resolution services through the MFHCRC (formerly MCRC), AND our landlords will be required to take marina law landlords training!
     • The marina landlord annual assessments will be based the size of their marinas. We defined small marinas as 20 or less floating homes.
   • Marina Tenants and Landlords would still like to see a Capital Gains tax benefit for Marina Landlords selling their marina to Tenants. However, there are concerns about being able to obtain Ways and Means approval for this in time. Fighting for it at this late in the game could impair our ability to get our bill passed. We will try one more shot and see how difficult getting this would be.
2. Sub metering was discussed.
   • There is a Submetering subcommittee working on finalizing the issues for us.
3. Termination of Tenancy was summarized at the end of our meeting. We touched on the following parts of the draft:
   • Currently our draft doesn’t require a Landlord to let a tenant know when they have cured the cause of the termination. Could be problematic because if the Tenant thinks the cause is cured, but the Landlord doesn’t agree, then the Tenant could be “surprised” by an eviction hearing filed.
   • In 2010, this group updated the law to allow Landlords to charge fees for minor violation of the lease, rather than jump to terminations. Most Landlords at the time did not amend their leases to allow fees and therefore cannot charge fees. Those landlords feel they have only 1 tool to prevent minor violations and that is termination.
   • We will continue to address minor violations at the next meeting.
   • A marina landlord brought up “chain barking” as a concerning issue. This is when a dog barks for long periods of time. He would like to see this group address that.

Marina owners and floating home owners met on Halloween (Oct 31) in Tigard for what was the last time as the Marina Issues Subcommittee of the Manufactured Housing Coalition.

The group has managed to reach tentative agreement on a number of key issues.  It is important to remember that “tentative agreement” simply means that both landlords and tenants are asking for things and are working on a package deal.  While we reach tentative agreement on certain major issues throughout the process, until the entire package of issues are agreed upon, there are no firm decision on proposed changes to the current laws.

Here are the items that the group has tentatively come to a concensus on:

1. Include marina landlords and residents in the coverage of the Manufactured Communities Resources Center.
   • We will need a new name – Likely the Manufactured & Marina Communities Resource Center (MMCRC).  Amend ORS 446.543 (and legally the current name is Manufactured Dwelling Park Community Relations Office).
   • We will amend ORS 446.525 to add a requirement that marina residents pay the $10 annual special assessment that MH park residents now pay and that supports MCRC.
   • We still need to review this with the county tax collectors. We will verify its applicability, but we need to also consider offering the same exception for low value floating homes. See ORS 308.250 (2), cancelling property taxes for low value (about $16k) MHs in the four big counties.
   • We will amend ORS 446.515 to .547 to add marinas to the ORS sections on Dispute Resolution for Mobile Home and Manufactured Dwelling Parks. (Note that ORS 90.610 already requires informal dispute resolution for all facility tenancies, which includes marinas – but marina tenants don’t pay for that through MCRC currently.)
   • We may also want to add marinas to ORS 446.380 to .392 regarding (Manufactured Dwelling) Site Information Collection and Distribution by MCRC.

2. Include marina landlords in the requirement to register annually with MCRC and get four hours of continuing education on L/T and fair housing law every 2 years, amending ORS 90732 to 90.738.
   • This includes paying the current annual registration fee, of $25 for small facilities (20 slips or less) and $50 for larger facilities.
   • Provide for a future effective date for the registration and education requirements, and get MCRC to agree to be lenient initially with enforcement, as marina landlords learn about this.  We are still determining when this will go into effect.  Given that there are only about 40 marina landlords who rent slips, tenants do not feel as though it would be that challenging to get 40 landlords informed of the change.

3. Include marinas in the current opportunity to purchase statutes, at ORS 90.842 to .850; delete existing ORS 90.805 to .830.

4. Give tenants the right to enter into a 1-year storage agreement with the marina when they are evicted, provided the tenant moves out, all payments are current and storage payments (equal to rent) are continued to be paid until the house sells to a new tenant.
   • NOTE:  Landlords could not conceive of a way in which they would allow a tenant to keep the home in the slip if the eviction was for nonpayment of rent and the tenant cannot afford to get current with payments.  In those cases, a tenant will have about 70 days to sell their home themselves or else the landlord will take possession of the floating home and dispose of it or sell it for the tenant.  The evicted homeowner will no longer have any control over the sales price.  So, note to floating home owners evicted due to nonpayment of rent: find a way to get current and keep making payments because you do not want your landlord to take your home.

5. Extended time to repair the float under a floating home. The current laws allow tenants only 60 days to complete required work when a float is in disrepair or else the tenant can be evicted. Since it is impossible to replace a float in 60 days per requirements under ORS 90.632, Landlords have agreed to allow a floating home owner up to 1-year to complete float work when the float is in disrepair but which is not creating an eminent risk or danger to other property.
   • Tenants can chose to get a float inspection to prove that their float is not in need of a repair under ORS 90.632, or as a defense in an eviction case if a Landlord insists they must repairs a float.
   • If the landlord insists that the tenant repair their float in the absence of any float inspection, then the facilitating attorneys suggested that the landlord would still need to prove to an eviction court that the float was in disrepair.
   • While we didn’t get everything tenants asked for, we did get a reasonable amount of time extended to have the float inspected, contact for the work to get done, save up for the expense of the repair (or, give time to sell the home of the tenant cannot afford the work) and then to perform major float work in most cases.
   • Although landlords on the Subcommittee understand that moorages on NE Marina Drive have additional seasonal limitations on work, 1 year is as far as Landlords were willing to give, and that is better than the current impossible 60 day law.  The Subcommittee facilitators/attorneys said that any tenant on NE Marine Drive who has a signed contract with a float contractor to do the necessary repairs within that time period allowed under a revised ORS 90.632, but then later learns that the Columbia River current conditions prevent the contractor from doing the work within the 1-year allowed could use circumstances-beyond-their-control/Act of God as a possible defense if they were to have an eviction suit filed against them.

6. A landlord’s ability to require a resident to move the floating home within the marina temporarily, under certain circumstances.
   • Both sides agree that the owner would pay for the move and the return, and would give advance notice.
   • The residents wish to have different standards (length of time of the move, and whether reduced rent is required) based on the reason for the move.
     • For temporary relocations of up to 1-month (most of the reasons are 1-2 days moves such as dock work, moving a floating home in next door, minor repairs to an adjacent home, etc.) would be allowed and no compensation will be required the landlord.
     • For temporary relocations of up to 4-months (primarily for dredging work or major repairs to adjacent areas, etc.) would be allowed and no compensation will be required the landlord.  Beyond 4 months, tenants requested compensation for the inconvenience and as an incentive to landlords that tenant homes are retuned to the original location in a timely manner.
   • NOTE: The idea here is that for the first reason, it is just a necessary part of living a floating home that occasionally your home may be in the way or at risk of damage when moving homes into and out of adjacent slips…Landlords need to be able to safely move homes in and out of marinas and not risk damaging other homes in the process.  For the second reason, tenants are largely willing to compromise and allow temporary relocation for reasons such as dredging, because typically, the alternative is that if the landlord does not dredge, homes will hit bottom.  Our tenant group felt that, overall, it was a benefit to them for the landlord to initiate and complete dredging projects (not hitting bottom = homes with more value), and the likelihood of any one home needing to be relocated for the entire 4 months is fairly slim given the largest dredging window is 4 months and homes are typically moved in stages to complete the project. Both groups are still working through the other 2 reasons – more on that below.

NOTE: For issues #2 and #3, the amendments to those statutes would largely consist of replacing “manufactured dwelling park” or “park” with “facility.”

Agreement on the above issues are all very good news for landlords and tenants.

Issues where we have not reached agreement and where we may carve a little bit of time out of the MH Coalition meetings to discuss again and finalize:

1. A Landlords want the ability to temporarily relocate a floating home when conditions of low water are projected…Tenants, generally, do not wish to hit bottom, but the problem is that Landlords generally would like to relocate a home for longer periods of time and, as one landlord stated, he would like to temporarily relocate a home for “up to 7 years” before moving a tenant back to their original position if certain circumstances required it.  Landlords failed to explain how this is a pressing need and tenants could not agree to allow their homes to be moved for extended periods of time given that property values are tied to the home’s location within the moorage.  No decision was reached.
2. Landlords want the ability to relocate a floating home when a governmental agency demands it.  Given that there are at least three landlords who are out of compliance with how many floating homes they have allowed in their moorage, this is an issue in which tenants wanted more answers from Landlords.  No decision was reached.

The next steps are that John VanLandingham will now attempt to draft language based on everything that has been agreed to thus far, but also take a stab at attempting proposed bill language for the 2 items that we did not reach a decision point on.  For those 2 remaining pieces, he will take what each side has said and try to draft something both sides can respond to.  The goal is for the proposed draft bill language for all of the issues to get to a point where we can review it and respond or fine-tune it at the next MH Coalition meeting in November…or the December meeting.

Lastly, there was one item that Landlords pulled from our discussion last week just before the meeting.  And that is the topic of Liveaboards. Liveaboards are not defined under ORS and Landlords perviously sought to create a legal definition to avoid confusion.  The day before the meeting, at least one landlord spoke out against the proposed definition that the landlords sought.  So, Landlords are going to meet one more time among themselves to reach an agreement about what it is that they actually want to propose to the group.  So we should also get an update on that at the next MH Coalition meeting.

Because marina tenants and landlords have reached tentative agreement on most of our floating home issues, we will not be meeting again as the Marina Issues Subcommittee.  The Marina Issues Subcommittee is officially disbanded.  At this point, the facilitators feel that we have done enough of the advance hard work that we can bring our agreements to the MH Coalition meetings and discuss anything remaining with the larger tenant landlord group which includes marinas and parks.  So, when you see notices in the future about the MH Coalition meetings, the MH Coalition is now the only venue to attend for floating home owners who wish to express their views and ideas about floating home legislation.

GREAT work, everyone.  And thank you all for participating in protecting your rights.  Our tenant group is growing with every meeting, email, and post.

We look forward to seeing new faces in Tigard next month at the MH Coalition meeting – November 20th.

We had a great Manufactured Housing Coalition meeting in Eugene on October 24th.  Together, tenants and landlords of marinas and manufactured housing parks are getting closer to a bill for 2019.

We have asked Senator Prozanski to sponsor our bill and have already submitted to him the topics which we either have already come to an agreement on, or which we believe we are close enough to reach agreement on very soon.

If tenants and landlords can reach agreement before the deadline, then Senator Prozanski will sponsor our bill.

If tenants and landlords cannot reach agreement before the deadline, then we will pull our bill.

With the deadline approaching, now is the time to think through what we really want and need, and make real compromises to get there so that there is a bill which can be voted on in 2019.

Following is a summary of topics we discussed and made some progress on for our 2019 bill.

1. Extend the sunset on the capital gains exemption for park owners who sell their parks to residents or nonprofits.
2. Extend the sunset on the $5,000 tax credit for park residents displaced by park closure.
3. Converting optional mediation between landlords and tenants (see ORS 90.610 (2)) into mandatory mediation, with fees for failing to mediate in good faith; inclusion of tenant versus tenant disputes; add a provision or enforcement by a state agency or private lawyer for a limited number of more serious landlord violations.
4. Revise/improve the current submeter installation law (ORS 90.531-90.539)
5. Clarify the current termination stature (ORS 90.630) to require a tenant to cure a distinct/separate violation (e.g., a loud party) right away, rather than at the end of the 30 day notice period (see, e.g., ORS 90.392 (4) (a) (B)); clean up the statute to prevent its use to terminate for minor violations; allow landlords to impose fees instead for minor violations.
6. Add marina tenancies to coverage by the Manufactured Communities Resource Center for education and mediation purposes, and require marina owners to register with the state and get the same mandatory continuing education that is imposed on park landlords; see ORS 90.732, .734. Also require marina tenants to pay the same annual $10 special assessment that park tenants pay, pursuant to ORS 446.525. (May require a new section regarding floating homes?) – and more which we are working to find agreement on soon
7. Trees: Amend ORS 90.727 (3) (b) to require that the landlord’s notice to the tenant specify which tree the landlord intends to maintain or fell.

Following is a summary of the day’s discussions which get us closer to agreement.

1. An overview of topics to be discussed at the Marina Issues Subcommittee meeting on October 31 in Tigard. John VanLandingham will be drafting possible agreement draft bill language before and after that meeting.
2. Dispute resolution issue – We are making progress in creating a process and language which can be supported by both landlords and tenants.
   • We largely agree to require all rental agreements, current and new, to require mandatory mediation for disputes.
   • We largely agree on mandatory mediation required for
     • (1) tenant-initiated complaints against landlord, even as a reaction to tenant receipt of certain limited termination notices, provided the tenant initiates mediation within a certain amount of time and not as an eviction-delay tactic. Many courts already require mandatory mediation prior to a hearing as it is.
     • (2) tenant-initiated complaints against tenants because the landlords feel responsible for keeping the peace.  An example of a tenant versus tenant issue should be when T-A confiscates a ball belonging to T-B which was thrown into T-A’s yard by T-B and T-A refuses to return it.  Or T-A has a security camera pointed at T-B.  These sorts of issues between neighbors can spiral out of control and Ts ask Ls for assistance.  However, in 2017-18, only 7% of all mediation in parks was T vs. T. And a large percentage of Ts do not show up for voluntary mediation unless there is a consequence.
     • (3) Landlord-initiated complaints against tenants.  Even though Ls have many tools including terminations, it is hoped that providing an ORS tool as an alternative to frightening termination notices will encourage L’s to communicate with their T, rather than jump to sending a termination notice.
     • Marina tenancies would be included, provided the subcommittee reaches agreement (which currently appears as though it should happen)
     • Exceptions: some counties do not have their own dispute resolution centers (DRC), but some are able to use the centers from adjacent counties.  Columbia County is a county that does not have its own center.  Need to verify if Columbia County can use an adjacent county’s center.
     • Process:
       • Complainant must write letter to the person they wish to mediate with, describing the issue, and allowing the other party at least 10 days to respond.
       • A copy of the letter must be given to the MCRC and report the result of the contact before MCRC may refer the matter to a DRC.
       • Request for mediation shall come through MCRC.
       • MCRC may try to resolve the issue themselves.
       • Parties may bring a friend, attorney or support person to mediation – as long as both parties agree.
       • All parties present at the mediation must sign a confidentiality agreement.
       • At least one mediation must take place, but a resolution is not guaranteed.  Both parties must act in good faith.
       • If mediation is successful, require all parties to sign a resolution agreement.
       • Send a copy of signed agreement to MCRC. This could be enforced in court if either party fails to perform.
       • If one party fails to attend mediation, then penalties will be in place. We are currently discussing what those penalties will be – a fee equal to one month rent, and/or an FED defense in eviction court, and/or the ability to not be able to claim prevailing party attorneys fees if the issue goes to court.
   • Some issues will likely be excluded from mandatory mediation – rent increases, park closures, possibly outrageous conduct under 90.396, sale of the park/marina, domestic violence, sexual assault, etc may all be excluded.
   • Issues which are too large or controversial to mediate, we are still working through possible resources who can help low-income tenants get legal help.  We are having a tough time getting an existing agency to be willing to devote resources to this, but we are still exploring a solution.
   • Park tenants currently pay $10 per year and parks landlords pay $25 or $50 (depending on park size) to fund the MCRC and optional mediation program through MCRC.  This has resulted in a surplus so far.  If we make mediation mandatory, our surplus could result in a shortage.  We are considering raising the assessment for landlords to $50 or $100.  Adding the marina tenants and landlords to the MCRC will result in more funds, but also potentially more usage.
   • No final decisions have been made, but we are definitely progressing toward agreement for each of these.
3. Termination of tenancy/fees issue – 9^th draft, dated 9/18/18, previously distributed but not discussed so carried over.
   • We will clarify language in ORS 90.630 regarding the following:
     • We will make it clear that a landlord cannot terminate a lease for minor rule violations.
     • We will make a distinction between ongoing rule infractions and one-time infractions and adjust termination notice times accordingly…for example, you may have 30 days to figure out how to stop your barking dog, but you will have to stop partying loudly immediately to avoid a termination notice.
     • We will require the notice to state whether or not the infraction ins a continuous or ongoing the of infraction – so that it is clear to the tenant when they must stop in order to meet the cure requirements.
     • We will require termination notices to state clearly the time, date, place and circumstance for receiving the termination notice.
     • We will require notices specific at least one option the tenant can do to cure the cause.
     • We are considering treating pets infractions differently so as to not endanger the life of a pet…ceasing unwanted pet behavior (such as barking) within 30 days would often result in giving up the pet or evicting the pet owner.
     • We are considering allowing warning notices and fees as an alternative to termination notices for minor infractions which cause fear in tenants.
     • We will clarify language around committing a second violation, cure timing, and termination.
     • We are discussing requiring that a termination notice can only be sent if there is a material violation OR if the tenant committed the same minor rule violation up to 3 times per year with warnings and established fees paid.
   • We are still working through the complexities of terminating a lease because a tenant didn’t pay fees.  The law allows a park or marina landlord to terminate a lease for nonpayment of a fee, but landlords don’t feel the law is clear enough.
     • We have discussed various solutions including:
       • Providing for escalating fee amounts for nonpayment of fees
       • 3 strikes and you are out rule for nonpayment of fees – no cure
       • Doing nothing and accept that sometimes judges don’t flow the law for either side.
     • This will be discussed further at the next meeting.

We are making great progress for tenant rights in marinas regarding terminations and dispute resolution.  Consider attending the next meeting in Tigard and participating in the process.  It helps to hear from marina tenants and how the various proposed legislative changes affect them specifically.

NEXT SCHEDULED MEETINGS:

***We added an additional January meeting because we are so close and need just  alit more time to finalize all proposed bill language before February of 2019.

• November 20, Tigard
• December 18, Salem
• January 15, Salem