The Manufactured Housing Forums

I purchased a mobile home in a park in July 2008. It came with a 90 day warranty. During that time, actually for almost the 1st year that I lived in the home, the maintenance and contractors that the park hired have done plumbing work under my house. Everything that they have done has fallen apart and has caused serious leaks and damage tomy home. The latest being an elbow connection to my sewer, which the installed 6 weeks after I moved in because the connection was missing when I moved in, I do not know how long the connection was disconnected, I discovered it a week ago, so needless to say I have sewage under my house. Well, now the park will not take respsonsility for the damage. I have proof that the connection was not installed correctly. There was no glue on the inside of the pipe and no straps or anything under the connection to support the weight of it.I have spoke to the park manager and the customer relations in the corp. office. But, they both just told me to deal with it. It is an ugly situation. I have thousands of dollars of damage under my home because of the leaks caused by their work. I am researching everything that I can because I want to take them to small claims court. Does anyone have any advice or help that they can give me in assisting me with my research for my court case.
In the 1st year that I have lived in the home the park has done the following work: replaced my master bath tub - contractor did not connect drain after replacement, so for 3 months I had to fight with park to get them to repair. Fixed leaks under my laundry room - coupling broke which caused gallons of water under my home and has caused damage to my subfloor. Repaired hot water pipe under kitchen - because pipe borke it caused serious damage to my kitchen floor, the floor is actually raised up on 1 side. installed elbow connection on sewer line - this has failed and has now caused the situation that I am in now. Park has releveled my house 2 in 1 year because of all the water that has been under my house because of the leaks. But, now I have the same issue because of the sewer line. They have also repaired several other leaks and all of them have had to be redone at my expense because they were not done correctly.
I am at my wits end with this park and the situation they have put me in.
Can someone please help me with some advice. I can not sell the home now because of the damage and can not afford to fix it.
I have reported them to the BBB. I have also called all the City's, Division of Housing and everyone else that I can think of the report them. Is there somewhere else or someone else that I can report them to?

Lots of issues here...Most of these problems seem to have been with the installation of the home..It is uncommon indeed that there was any promise of a warranty on a used home..There is no agency who can or will help you to try to enforce a long over promise of condition..I hope you had these promises in writing and have kept detailed records of all complaints and efforts to resolve the issues.The courts are probably your only recourse..Small claims is fairly simple, quick and inexpensive to do. It is similar to the court shows on the TV. Watch Judge Judy and expect your court to be similar. You will have to present evidence of cause, fault, responsibility and damages all with in the rules of evidence in your state. The park will be able to present their side of the story and the judge decides..The process is simple but limited to "small claims". Most limit the suits to less than $3,500 . This limit is different in each state. For claims above the limit the accuser MUST go to the next level of court up which is MUCH more formal and almost always requires an attorney to interpret the rules. These courts can take many months and often even years. Sounds like your claim could be much larger than the small claims limits..You might want to consult with a local attorney about how to proceed in this court..If you signed an arbitration agreement when you bought (you probably did) you cannot go to court before you go to arbitration. Arbitration is similar to small claims in that it is simple quick and inexpensive. Most often there are no limits on the size of the claim. Arbitration is a judicial process and has similar rules of evidence..Check all the documentation you signed when you bought. Read EVERY line especially the back of the purchase agreement for an arbitration clause.

I know we cannot turn the clock back and it will not do you any good but others looking to buy used might learn.. If you had a professional home inspector review the home before you bought he would surely mentioned the tub and type of plumbing you have which sounds like polyurethane and all of its associated problems. Then you could have purchased knowing what was probably going to happen in the near future. Of course you could have chose to move on or at least expected some of the problems you have had..

Candidly it is not likely you will prevail in any judicial claim except for any properly reported defect you reported in the first 90 days. Then only if you have that promise in writing from the seller..After 90 days water and sewer leaks were your problem to resolve. Unfortunately all of us who buy preowned homes, we take on all of the future problems as our own. Good Luck