MOTA-Vator Online

Update - The charges against Tammy Hoth have been Dropped !

Blog Manager — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:28:26 GMT

Susie Cole manager Casa Village has agreed to drop the charges against Tammy Hoth!

Cole & Hoth have already signed the paperwork to have the charges dropped. One stipulation in there agreement to drop the charges is that Tammy Hoth not enter Casa Village for one year. According to the email we received, Susie Cole will no longer be in Billings Montana at the end of that year. Tammy Hoth continues to meet with residents of Casa Village outside of the property, so this concession should not impact her ability to organize and inform that community.

Update - Can your rights to Freedom of Speech & Expression be violated by a park owner ? - "Woman denies trespassing charge"

Blog Manager — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:15:32 GMT

Update:

Tammy plead not guilty yesterday morning. Her trial is set for Tuesday, February 5th, at 2pm.

To everyone who called or wrote the city attorney and mayor, thank you! To those of you who have not yet had a chance, it remains important to do so!

The mayor is claiming he’s only received seven calls or emails and the city attorney is claiming only nine calls. My count is only twelve confirmed calls or emails. We can and need to do much better than this! Calling and emailing instructions are listed below.

There was an article (see link below) in the Billings Gazette this morning. The article focused mostly on whether or not the city had a case for trespassing, and did not address the larger issue – freedom of speech!

We are calling for continued phone calls and emails to the city attorney and mayor, letters to the editor, and online comments to the article! See instructions below.

*If you or an associate calls, emails, comments, or writes a letter, please let me know!*

Things to Consider:

1. The larger issue here is one of freedom. If the owner or the city can determine who may enter a park based on whether they like them or not, this violates freedom of speech and has much larger implications. If the current statute is read literally, it indicates that a park owner can decide to restrict particular political candidates, religious organizations, trick-or-treaters, girl scouts, and even which relatives of the residents may enter a park. This would give park owners absolute control over the type of information residents have access to and who may or may not enter. Under this argument, if a park owner didn’t like your grandmother she or he could restrict your grandmother from visiting you. The city could put your grandmother in jail for visiting you.

2. The person who made the complaint to the police that resulted in Tammy’s arrest remains anonymous. Why is the complainant allowed to remain unidentified?

3. Why is the City of Billings spending taxpayer money on restricting resident freedoms?

Article: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/01/11/news/local/36-tresspass.txt

Online Comments: simply go the bottom of the page of the online article & submit

Letter to the Editor: Letters can be submitted four ways:

Using the form at the bottom of this page: http://billingsgazette.net/info/?h/letters

Email your letter to speakup@billingsgazette.com.

Mail your letters by postal mail to:

P.O. Box 36300
Billings, MT 59107-6300

Send your letters by fax to: (406) 657-1208

Letters to the editor must contain the writer's name, street address, and work and/or home phone numbers. Maximum length is 250 words.

Call:
City Attorney Brent Brooks at: (406) 657-8202 brooksb@ci.billings.mt.us
Mayor Ron Tussing at: (406) 657-8296 tussingr@ci.billings.mt.us

When: Anytime, until the action alert is called off. We will keep you posted if the alert is cancelled.

What to Say: Drop the charges against Tammy Hoth. Freedom of expression is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Feel free to embellish with your own story: e.g. I am a manufactured home park resident/advocate and this is important to me because…

Can your rights to Freedom of Speech & Expression be violated by a park owner ? - "Woman denies trespassing charge"

Blog Manager — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:15:04 GMT

Story available at http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/01/11/news/local/36-tresspass.txt

Published on Friday, January 11, 2008.
Last modified on 1/11/2008 at 1:02 am

"Woman denies trespassing charge"

By CLAIR JOHNSON
Of The Gazette Staff

A Red Lodge woman claims she was handing out information about property rights to residents of Casa Village, a mobile-home park for sale in Billings.

But the city alleges the woman, Tammy Dunkin Hoth, was illegally trespassing when she entered Casa Village on Nov. 1 after having been asked to stay out.

Hoth pleaded not guilty Thursday in Municipal Court to misdemeanor trespassing. Judge Collette Davies appointed a public defender and set a hearing for Feb. 5. She continued Hoth's $595 bond. If convicted, Hoth faces a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.

Hoth, a bank clerk who owns a mobile home in Red Lodge, has been working with other residents to buy that park to keep it from being sold and developed. The residents formed a nonprofit association, Mountain Springs Villa Inc., to secure their homes and obtained government grants and loans to buy the land. Residents will rent from the association.

After her court appearance, Hoth and Trent Godfrey, a Billings resident who also lives in a mobile-home park, said they separately distributed fliers at Casa Village.

Godfrey is a local leader for All Parks Alliance for Change, a St. Paul, Minn., group that encourages mobile-home residents to form associations and to understand homeowners' rights. The group called for messages protesting the trespassing charge. Godfrey has not been charged.

Hoth said she first distributed information last summer, and Godfrey said he distributed fliers a second time. Then the two went to a residents association meeting on Nov. 1, Hoth said, to let residents know "it's not impossible to purchase their own park."

"I feel like I was invited," Hoth said, because a Casa Village resident had told her about the meeting. But she was told they were not welcome.

City Attorney Brent Brooks said Casa Village is a privately owned park and that Hoth is accused of remaining on the premises three times despite being asked to leave.

The court records say Hoth entered Casa Village on Nov. 1 after the management had asked her to stay out of the park on more then one occasion. Hoth was found in the park in August passing out fliers, and manager Susie Cole told her not to come back. On Oct. 22, Cole discovered that more of the fliers had been distributed. Then on Nov. 1, Cole found Hoth again passing out fliers.

When contacted by a police officer, Hoth admitted she had been on the property on Nov. 1 and admitted she had been told more than once not to be on the premises, the affidavit said.

Hoth disputes the charges, saying she distributed fliers once and went to a meeting. Cole told her not to distribute any more fliers and she didn't, she said.

Cole could not be reached for comment.

Casa Village is a well-maintained, 490-lot mobile-home park on 65 acres off 24th Street West and Monad Road. Residents learned in October that the park was for sale after fliers were dropped on their doorsteps by the All Parks Alliance. Casa Village was listed for sale by Iowa Realty Commercial for $15.25 million.

During a meeting in October at Will James Middle School, representatives from All Parks Alliance hoped to give residents advice on forming associations and information on their rights. Many attendees worried they would be forced out if the park sells.

Casa Village is posted for no trespassing or soliciting, a police report said. The complainant, who was not identified, asked that Hoth be prosecuted, the report said.

The officer sent his report to Municipal Court for review, and the City Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant, said Police Lt. R.D. Harper. A warrant was issued Dec. 21. Hoth went to the Police Department on Jan. 2 and was released with a notice to appear in court Thursday. She posted bond.

Some supporters called or e-mailed Mayor Ron Tussing.

"We want the city to know other people are paying attention to this, and their constituents are paying attention to this as well," said Kelly Diouf, of the alliance. The courts will have to determine whether Holt was trespassing, she said.

The mayor said he had received seven calls or e-mails from around the country, none of them from Billings. Brooks said he received nine calls.

While there may be some gray area when it comes to access to tenants renting lots, the property is private, Tussing said.

"I can see both sides," he said.

The Legal Corner - One Small Law May Provide Powerful Protection to Manufactured Housing Park Tenants - By: Attorney Rob Hunt

Blog Manager — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:06:16 GMT

Tenants in Manufactured Housing Parks are vulnerable to the park owners. This is not a concern when the park owners are honest and decent people. However, when park owners seek to take advantage of their tenants, it becomes very difficult because tenants have limited options under those circumstances. Unlike people renting a house or an apartment, park tenants usually own the home and pay rent for the lot. It is not as simple as just moving out.

Park tenants have numerous ways to defend themselves against unscrupulous park owners. Of particular importance is Chapter 205-A of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (or RSA 205-A). This is a set of laws enacted by the NH legislature that helps provide some protection to tenants in manufactured housing parks when the park owners act unreasonably.

RSA 205-A:2 provides a list of actions that park owners are prohibited from doing. For example,

a park owner may not:

Charge or attempt to charge a tenant for repair or maintenance to any underground system, such as oil tanks, or water, electrical or septic systems, for causes not due to the negligence of the tenant or transfer or attempt to transfer to a current tenant responsibility for such repair or maintenance to the tenant by gift or otherwise of all or part of any such underground system.

More interestingly, RSA 205-A:13-a states:

Any violation of the provisions of RSA 205-A:2 shall also constitute an unfair trade practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A and may be enforced as provided in RSA 358-A.

This not so well known provision provides manufactured housing park tenants with some potentially powerful ammunition against park owners who violate one of the prohibitions listed in RSA 205-A, especially if park owners have done so willfully or knowingly.

The reason this provides tenants with potential power is because RSA 358-A is the NH Consumer Protection Act. It is designed to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade practices. Most importantly, RSA 358-A:10, I reads as follows:

Any person injured by another's use of any method, act or practice declared unlawful under this chapter may bring an action for damages and for such equitable relief, including an injunction, as the court deems necessary and proper. If the court finds for the plaintiff, recovery shall be in the amount of actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. If the court finds that the use of the method of competition or the act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of this chapter, it shall award as much as 3 times, but not less than 2 times, such amount. In addition, a prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded the costs of the suit and reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the court. Any attempted waiver of the right to the damages set forth in this paragraph shall be void and unenforceable. Injunctive relief shall be available to private individuals under this chapter without bond, subject to the discretion of the court.

Arguably, each violation of RSA 205-A by a manufactured housing park owner could entitle the injured tenant to $1,000.00 in damages per violation. If the court finds that the park owner acted willfully or knowingly, it shall award at least 2 times that, per violation, and could award up to 3 times that amount, per violation.

This may not seem like much if there is only one or two violations. But if there are multiple violations for one tenant, or, more likely, one or two violations against every person in the park, the potential for damages could become very substantial. Furthermore, the park owner might be subject to separate fines to be paid to that state under other provisions of the law.

Knowledge of this law may allow you, or your attorney, to persuade an otherwise stubborn park owner to stop violating the law. If they do not stop, it may mean a substantial damages award from a court for the tenant or for all the tenants in a particular park. ♠

The Legal Corner - Home Owners and Tenants - Enforcing Your Rights - by Attorney Rob Hunt, Gilford

Attorney Rob Hunt — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:44:38 GMT

As a home owner and a tenant in a manufactured housing park, it is sometimes difficult to know what your rights are and how you can protect and enforce your rights. The law is not simple, and the proper assistance in understanding it might not be available or may be hard to find. Regulations, Statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and other legal materials related to manufactured housing are complicated. It is hard to know what law applies to what situation and who to ask for help.

In New Hampshire, there are resources available for people seeking legal help with problems related to manufactured housing parks. Which resource you contact will usually depend on your circumstances and the particulars of your legal issues.

New Hampshire Bar Association: As you probably know, the New Hampshire Bar Association (NHBA) is an organization that governs NH attorneys. But the NHBA also operates programs aimed at making sure that NH citizens are able to get the legal counsel and representation they need, even if they cannot fully afford to pay for it.

The Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) is a NHBA program that provides callers with lawyers who have agreed to be available to provide consultations and possibly, legal representation, on particular issues. Some of these lawyers are willing to represent people with issues related to manufactured homes. The telephone number for LRS is (603) 229-0002.

New Hampshire Legal Assistance (NHLA): This is a program the provides legal counsel and representation to qualified, low-income people. NHLA has attorneys on staff who are experienced in manufactured housing park issues. In fact, NHLA has published a pamphlet that you can access on its website entitled "Your Rights as a Tenant in a Manufactured Housing Park" at www.nhla.org/legal_services.php or www.nhla.org/housing.php. NHLA has offices in Claremont, Littleton, Portsmouth and Manchester.

Civil Practice Clinic at Franklin Pierce Law Center: Franklin Pierce Law Center is a law school located in Concord. As part of its curriculum, it operates a program providing legal counsel and representation for indigent clients. The telephone number is (603) 225-3350.

NH Board of Manufactured Housing: The NH Board of Manufactured Housing is a board created by law that includes:

(a) Two public members, appointed by the governor.

(b) Two members appointed by the governor, from a list of 3 persons nominated by the New Hampshire Manufactured Housing Association.

(c) One member appointed by the governor, from a list of 2 persons nominated by the Mobile/Manufactured Homeowner and Tenants Association of New Hampshire.

(d) One member appointed by the governor who is a resident of a manufactured housing park who is not a member of the Mobile/Manufactured Homeowner and Tenants Association of New Hampshire.

(e) One member of the New Hampshire Bar Association, appointed by the president of such association.

(f) Two members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house.

Manufactured Housing Park Tenants can file a complaint with the NH Board of Manufactured Housing with regard to certain issues outlined in the NH law entitled Regulation of Manufactured Housing Parks. The law grants the Board very specific jurisdiction and very specific authority to take action pursuant to certain laws governing manufactured housing parks. Park tenants can file complaints and go before the board with or without an attorney. More information about the board can be found at www.nh.gov/nhmhb/.

Private Attorneys: Sometimes park tenants will need to hire a private attorney and pay that attorney fees and costs associated with pursuing claims. This can be expensive, so be very careful to get an estimate from any private attorney you hire as to the likely cost of such representation. The attorney should also be willing to discuss his/her experience in the area of manufactured housing law.

NH Attorney General’s Office: The NH Attorney General’s office includes a division concerned with consumers’ rights. The AG’s office is part of the NH Department of Justice, and park tenants can visit the consumer protection page of their website at doj.nh.gov/consumer/index.html.

Manufactured Home Owners and Tenants Association: Of course, anyone can view the mission statement and information for MOTA on it’s website ( mota-nh.org ), along with the substantial resources and data related to issues important to manufactured housing homeowners and tenants in New Hampshire.

For homeowners and/or tenants in a New Hampshire manufactured housing park, being educated and aware of the various resources available to enforce your rights is imperative. It can be challenging to understand all of the laws that affect your relationship with park owners, but you can be sure that park owners will try hard to understand them or hire lawyers to protect them when there is a dispute. Homeowners and tenants who know what resources are available will fair much better in such disputes.

Manufactured Housing Park Program Report - July 2007 - by David Stack, MHPP Program Director

Blog Manager — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:10:04 GMT

The NH Community Loan Fund’s Manufactured Housing Park Program (MHPP) has just closed another fiscal year (FY07). Here are some of the highlights of MHPP’s activities:

Eight investor-owned communities, totaling 695 sites, were converted to cooperative Resident Owned Communities. For the second year in a row, one large community was converted (Exeter River Estates - 392 sites).
The Laconia Savings Bank purchased a pool of individual home mortgages, totaling $500,000, from the Loan Fund. The loans were made to homebuyers and homeowners in Resident Owned Communities in New Hampshire through the Cooperative Home Loan Program. The loan sale is a part of the Loan Fund’s strategy to engage banks in lending to manufactured housing in the state’s resident-owned manufactured home communities. A second loan sale to a second bank is currently in the early planning stages and may be completed during the grant period.
MHPP completed the installation of all of the homes (44 total) at the Pepperidge Woods development in Barrington. Currently, 3 homes are under contract and 9 homes remain for sale.
As part of its efforts to develop a system to provide in-fill and replacement homes, MHPP set 1 home in Ossipee Mountains Estates Cooperative and 2 homes at Barrington Oaks Cooperative. All 3 homes were set on previously vacant lots.
The second ROC Leadership Program was held over the fall and winter. The program educates a select group of motivated co-op members in the legal, governmental, infrastructure, and financial systems that affect resident Owned Communities in New Hampshire. Fifteen participants graduated from the program. MHPP is taking applications for the next class that will begin this fall.
MHPP staff continue to work with Fannie Mae Corporation and two local banks on the $10MM Fannie Mae demonstration for financing homes in NH cooperatives – the only manufactured housing communities in the country that will be eligible for government-sponsored, enterprise-supported, conventional residential mortgage loan products. Current plans call for the pilot program to be rolled out in the upcoming fiscal year.

After 15 years of leading the Loan Fund’s Manufactured Housing Park Program, Paul Bradley will be moving on to focus his efforts on the development of ROC USA, a national organization working with practitioners from other states to further develop the ROC system and help others organize to purchase their communities. I will be taking his place as MHPP Program Director and I look forward to building upon the success of the program in an effort to ensure that the network of thriving, respected, and self-governing Resident Owned Communities continues to enjoy economic security and benefit. All of the MHPP staff look forward to our continued work with the members and boards of the state’s 86 Resident Owned Communities. We also look forward to the opportunity to provide homeowners with the technical expertise needed, when the opportunity arises, to form a cooperative and secure the ownership of the land beneath their homes.

Letter from the President - Lois Parris - July 2007

Blog Manager — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:11:33 GMT

First, I would like to offer our very special thanks and appreciation to two MOTA members Florence Quast & Bill Rivers both have recently stepped down from their State Board positions.

Florence Quast has served on the State Board of Manufactured Housing as the MOTA representative since its inception in 1995. Florence has just finished her 12th year of dedicated service to all those who have come before this board. It is with deep appreciation that the MOTA Board of Directors wants to thank her for her many years of dedicated service. She has served us well, thank you Florence.

Bill Rivers has served on the Manufactured Housing Installation Standards Board as one of MOTA’s representatives. Bill has been a great asset to the MOTA Board of Directors as well as the Installations Standards Board, Bill’s strong beliefs of right and wrong, came through in his service. It is our hope that Bill will keep up his great ability to further the understanding of the importance of proper and lawful installation of manufactured homes, thank you Bill.

Announcement – We would like to congratulate two of our members who have volunteered to step up and represent MOTA on two different State of New Hampshire Boards. Both have received their official appointments from the Governor & Executive Counsel and the Commissioner of Safety.

Our new representative as of June 2007 on the State Board of Manufactured Housing is Robert D. Hunt, Esq. of Robert D. Hunt P.A. in Gilford.
Our new representative as of July 2007 on the Manufactured Installations Standards Board is Dave Stack of NHCLF in Concord.

Legislation – MOTA and the NHCLF have worked together on two bills this past session. The first was SB218 which would have strengthened RSA 205-A22, was tabled, and we will try to bring it back in the next session. The second bill was HB232 passed on the House Side and was sent to the Senate Commerce, Labor and Consumer protection committee. On May 15, 2007 it was referred to committee. Again, we hope to be able to work with the committee to bring this back in the next session.

We realize that there continue to be problems out there with unjustified rent increases.

There is one thing we need to impress upon all of you out there in “park land”. Please, Please, Please, if you find your rent goes up $15.00 or more, we ask that you use the MCAP program. The MCAP program information can be printed from our website www.mota-nh.org or send us a written request with a stamped self addressed envelope enclosed which we will use to send you the MCAP program paperwork.

The Park Owners Association claim there have been only, six or so parks that have used the program and as far as they know, the process works. I can only say that I know of only two parks that have used the program and not much has come out of it in favor if the tenants.

One solution that a park owner came up with was to lower the rent increase by $15.00 but they would loose curbside trash pick up. They now have to go to dumpsters – this community is a 55 and older park? The other park that we know used the program came away from the negotiations with nothing.

We know of a couple of parks that had large increases. One in Meredith, NH could not get enough of the residents to sign onto the process of the MCAP program because they are TERRIFIED of retaliation. The other park on the seacoast, a 259 unit senior citizens’ park, had a $39.00 a month increase. The MCAP program states you need 51% of the tenants to sign onto the process, that means 130 households in this park need to sign up to go forward with the MCAP program; that is a tall order for a group of senior citizens. The “retaliation” threat is very real in this case as well.

Tenants feel and realize that park owners have more money than “GOD” and, as a rule, can legally try and avoid any “complications” that RSA-205-A might create for them; thus creating the attitude that “why bother” we won’t win anyway.
We need our legislators to look at what is happening in our parks and know that they need to take their blinders off and help MOTA make 205-A count for something more. Laws that in the end mean nothing if they do not feel safe to use them without loosing their homes, their peace of mind, and their dignity.

Reminder – The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America which is the national organization that MOTA-NH is a member of, is holding their annual meeting September 14 – 16, 2007 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. If you will recall New Hampshire hosted the meeting last year and everybody that attended was very pleased with the experience. We have placed more information about this year’s MHOAA annual meeting in this newsletter.

Best Regards
Lois Parris

Ask a question or comment about the Manufactured Housing Consumer Action Program

Blog Manager — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 18:23:15 GMT

Ask a question or comment about the Manufactured Housing Consumer Action Program (MCAP) or any other pertinent question. This program was established to act as a mediation program between park owners and park residents in the state of New Hampshire. If you have used the (MCAP) program we would like to here any comments you might have about it.

Ask a question about the State Board of Manufactured Housing

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:36:45 GMT

Ask a question about the State Board of Manufactured Housing or any other pertinent question concerning the function of this Board.

Ask a question about the Manufactured Housing Installation Standards Board

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:37:09 GMT

Ask a question about the State of New Hampshire - Manufactured Housing Installation Standards Board or any other pertinent question concerning the new State and Federal laws now in effect governing the installation of manufactured housing.

Example:

1) Did you know that the person installing your manufactured house is now required to be licensed by the State of New Hampshire.

Important information about state and federal legislation

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:29:50 GMT

This category will have Important Information about State and Federal legislation that may or will effect people living in Manufactured Housing in the State of New Hampshire.

Ask the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund how to purchase your park

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:37:31 GMT

Ask the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund how to purchase your park when it is put up for sale or any other pertinent question.

Ask how to form a Housing Park Association

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:37:55 GMT

Ask MOTA for assistance in forming a Housing Park Association where you live or any other pertinent question.

Ask the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund a question

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:38:17 GMT

Ask the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund a question about there programs or any other pertinent question.

Ask the MOTA-NH Board of Directors a question

Blog Manager — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 05:38:39 GMT

Ask the MOTA-NH Board of Directors a question