Tenants who own a manufactured home in a mobile home park sometimes decide that they want to sell and move to a different place. They may be retiring and want to move to a new city, they may want to move to a an assisted living facility, perhaps their employer is relocating them, or simply they may not want to upkeep a large home and prefer to downsize to save on utility costs.
Sellers can find buyers buy putting advertisements on websites like MHBay, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace, or the seller may offer the home to children or grandchildren who are seeking a new home. Another option is for sellers to ask the mobile home park sales and leasing office for assistance in finding a buyer. Mobile home park operators often have daily inquiries about new homes, so this steady stream is something that can be to your advantage when you want to sell.
No matter who buys your home, it is important to notify the community manager before you transfer money or a title. This is because most mobile home parks stipulate in your lease or the rules and regulations that any new residents must be approved before moving into the community. If you sell your home without permission, undesirable things can happen.
Initially, the new owner continues to pay rent and the community manager does not even notice the new owner. The corporate office also does not notice because the rent is paid on time each month, so no red flags are raised. Eventually, however, the community manager notices new people and begins inquiring to find that an unauthorized tenant has moved into the community. Also, the new owner may begin to make late rent late payments or may stop paying altogether which raised the red flags. Once these situations arise, the seller of the mobile home can find himself with legal issues.
This is because the lease agreement was between the original owner of the home and the mobile home park. By selling the home without authorization, the mobile home park never terminated the lease to replace it with a new lease with the new owner, which means the home seller is still responsible to for the terms of the lease including paying rent.
After the discovery of the new tenant, the mobile home community will try to make things right by preparing a new lease for the new owner, but first they are going to conduct a background check. Things can become a big problem if the new owner is not approved. In this case, legal action may be taken to remove the new tenant, but complicating the matter is that the seller of the home will also have legal action taken against them since they are the legal holders of the lease.
These issues will never arise if the owner of a mobile home park discusses their intention of selling with the community manager prior to the sale. The community manager can explain the process and provide background check applications to prospective buyers. The community manager will run the background checks and can also refer potential buyers to the owner. Lastly, the community manager may even offer to buy your home on behalf of the mobile home park.