Lot 89

Recently, a cold snap blasted through the upper midwest, with temperatures well below freezing. This "Polar Vortex" caused damage to all utilities, but was considerably more nasty to exposed water lines. Feeds to mobile homes iced over, rendering whole families without water for days. Additionally, sanitary sewer lines leading out of homes froze solid and could not be thawed out without the help of plummers, contractors, or anybody else who had a method of putting heat underneath the mobile homes.

As you can guess, there were several complaints from residents who were without water. Thawing out a mobile home's water line is not a complicated job, but it is time consuming and can be expensive depending on how many people in the community have frozen up.

Residents

Anyone who has lived in or worked for a mobile home community knows that there are certain people within the parks that are good-for-nothing retrobates who will lie, scam, steal, or otherwise attempt to swindle the park owners or anybody else if given the chance...all to avoid paying rent, water bills, or take personal responsibility for anything.

Residents will:

• Blame their neighbors for insect infestations within their own home.
• Blaming the park because they let their own toilet run, causing a large water bill.
• Blame park employees for damage on their already damaged homes.
• Threaten to "move my house out of this shithole park."
• Threaten to call the Better Business Bureau/EPA/Heath Department.
• Blame park employees when their car was towed out of a "No Parking" zone.
• Threaten to "put their rent in escrow" when they, or their home is in violation of any park rules. This includes local, state, and federal laws.
• This list can go on and on. Residents are always scheming and calculating their next scam.

Excuses

There are several stories you hear every year when it gets very cold outside. After being involved with mobile home parks, you eventually get to the point where you can anticipate these stories and have already formed a "script" that you can use to easily deflate the situtation and firmly explain to the resident why they are wrong.

Common Scripts:

• Your water line froze because you have no working Heat Tape, your home's skirting is damaged or missing, your home's water lines froze because your insulation is damaged or missing, and finally, your home's water line froze because you refused to drip water in your house when it was below freezing outside.
• The reason why you have a high water bill is because you left a toilet running for weeks at a time.
• The reason why sewage is backing up into your bathtub is because you have a blockage in your sewage line and the tub is the lowest drain in your home. Blockage is usually caused by flushing very bad things down your toilet.
• No, we don't touch your skirting when we do water reads. There is a remote meter reader on the side of your home which makes it so that we never have to physically touch your skirting.

The Letter

I wanted to take a moment to respond to the numerous emails, texts and voice mails in regards to the sewer issue at Green Acres Lot 89.

Unauthorized Resident

First and foremost, we have made several attempts to make contact with you in regards to an unauthorized person making these complaints. It is very important moving forward that complaints are reported by a lease holder, this will remedy miscommunication or incorrect messages being sent to the team involved causing unnecessary delays in response.

The instructions were also sent as to how you would add a person to your lease in the event you were interested. I do have a person who has completed an application but without the additional documentation required the application can not be processed. It is also required that a phone call be made to the Community Manager in the event you are interested in adding a specific person to the lease.

We have a contract with you, and based on the contents of that contract we are not able to add anyone without all parties in agreement.

Mr. Rooter

Secondly, when I processed through the Mr. Rooter bill sent it appears they have listed the following issues below as being the cause of the sewer issues at the home.

List of repairs and suggestions. Also notes saying the home owner will do some of the repairs himself. Click to enlarge.

Upon review, the vendor has determined the issue to be located at the drop into the pit, and the cause being the sewer lines were in properly insulated. When I review the land lease signed by you on page 9, I have found that this is the responsibility of the homeowner. See below:

From the lease, a list that details the responsibilities of the homeowner. Click to enlarge.

Details, Details, Details

Most specifically, in the lease it is outlined that the home owner is responsible for the sewer lines from the ground into the home, and any blockage from the lateral back into the home is also at the responsibility of the homeowner.

I also highlighted the expectation that all water and sewer lines must be properly winterized. In the temperatures we had last week, the heat tape and insulation may or may not have prevented the water and or sewer from freezing, but they are intended to be a valuable safety net in cold temperatures.

I have also outlined in the purchase agreement (not shown) that the home was sold to you as a used home, and did not have a warranty. This is important to note when you review the Mr. Rooter notes in regards to the sewer having a belly and needing additional support brackets.

But I also want to let you know these can be purchased inexpensively at any local hardware store and are relatively easy to install. Once installed they will provide the appropriate support to the sewer line preventing a belly from forming and water or sewage standing in the line.

Further Clarification

Should you have any other questions or concerns feel free to let me know. I understand the frustration with the situation, we had many residents in the same situation as you, and unfortunately when temperatures reach sub zero levels, the ownership of a mobile home can be frustrating to maintain.

You must have a more complete understanding of how your home connects to the park's infrastructure and where your responsibilities begin and the park's end.

I also received a voice message from someone claiming to be your husband who stated you were renters of the home. Just for clarification, you are a renter of the lot only, but the ownership of the home is you as you are currently being financed through the dealer MHC for the home. This too may be confusing if this is the first mobile home you have purchased, so feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns and we can assist.