The Manufactured Housing Forums

this email was recently received from a community manager

I will get right to the point Chrissy, I am having serious burn-out
problems. I started with this community a year ago. Everyday with
the residents here is a constant battle. It is very difficult to get them to
come in compliance with the community guidelines. They curse me out on a
daily basis, make threats, and to tell you the truth Chrissy I sometimes am
afraid of the actions that I am going to get back from trying to enforce
anything with some. Another problem is that our company has its own finance
company and we finance homes in our communities. The problem is that people
that we finance its hard to enforce guidelines, because what are you going to
do if they don't come into compliance? What I mean is this
I write them up lets say 3 times for the same issue, but they dont comply.
The finance company does not want me to evict because that is a repo on the
books, and it also goes against my goals for the year as far as the company
is concerned. I feel this is a catch-22 situation. The home must stay here on
the property while it is being financed by our company, but if you evict the
judge here says that if I want them out then they can move that home, my
finance company does not want that so who knows what to do to enforce
anything around here. Now, the thing is my company will say " If your having
trouble with guideline issue "sure" get'um out of there as a last resort, but
dont let the house go, and oh by the way thats another repo to count against
your goals for the year. The other residents see this who do not have their homes financed by our company want to know what the difference is in them and our
custormers as far as guideline issues are concerned.

Another problem I have is no maintenace staff, this is a 189 site community.
I am expected to run the office, do rehab work, and weekly inspections of the
property and enforce guidelines, dealer visits, and so on and so on. This is
just to much. I dont have time to do everything. I am stressed to the tip
top of my head. I was hoping you may have some material or suggestions on
time management. I just somedays dont have a clue whats first and what's
last.

I would like to be able to deal with this residents in a better way, and
avoid the cursing out and still get the results concerning the guidelines
that I want. Right now I am not sure where to find reading material or
information on these things and I had a pretty good idea that you just may
know where I should start.

I love my job, and I want to be a good property manager. Except I dont want
to get cursed out everyday or hurt, or killed, but I want these people to
abide by the guidelines under which they agreed to live here in the first
place. I dont know how to deal with my company and the way they look at
things, and a judge who is pro resident all the way. PLEASE HELP!!!
...Thank you in advance for any reading material or suggestions you may have.

OK – I have help for you. First, realize that you are creating a tremendous amount of stress for yourself. Many companies both sell and finance homes, and also provide the community setting for them. This in and of itself can be stressful for the community manager if you do not understand that the management techniques needed in these instances are different. Don’t work or try to work outside the given parameters. Understand and accept that these residents are with you for life! That does not mean that they can do whatever they want. They still have to abide by the Guidelines. However, it does mean that if eviction is not an option, don’t threaten them with it. Do not ever tell them you will do something you cannot do! Instead, get a little more creative in dealing with these residents. My suggestion is that you spend $25 to purchase my book, “Get Tough, Get Creative.” It is newly revised – over 60 pages of tips and sample letters to use. Everything is geared toward getting a resident to come into compliance without evicting them. The handbook is broken down by the most common areas of infraction. Real sample letters are included in the back. You can fax me (813-982-2618) your Visa or MasterCard number, or order online at my website, and we’ll get it out to you right away. Good luck – this area is always a challenge, but with the right mindset, you can do it. In terms of physical work overload, look at the big picture. Take time to make a comprehensive list of your duties outside the office. Begin to separate your days into blocks of time. Try to accomplish at least one outside project each day (except during the first of the month) and one inside project. Generally, a community with more than 75 homesites has at least a part time maintenance person. Have you talked with your supervisor about the budget? Have you looked at the budget? See if there is a way to afford another person. Good luck.