Teens

[Joanne Patterson]

We are having problems with teenagers living in the community. We have no pool, club house or recreation areas available due to liability issues. They have nothing to do but "hang out". They are fighting, having sex in our storm drains, distroying propery, etc.

We have given 60-day notices to the worst families, and they have moved. Unfortunately the teens keep coming back to visit other teens or to beat up rivals. We have threatened the other familys that are accepting these visitors, but we can't remove all the tenants from the community.

The manager is fed up. She gets very little help from the local law enforcement, and less help from the parents.

We are checking into a "rent a cop" to try to stiffle the situation before summer, it always gets worse in the summer.

Anyone have any ideas????

Desperately seeking advice

[John]

That can be a tough deal, but it can be delt with.

You can modify the leases according to the statutes in your state to allow for easier eviction of the problem renters or those that do not cooperate with park demands. I boot everyone out that does not cooperate with the managment and the rest of the tenants. Disruptive teens can cause more problems to the whole park than those that don't pay rent.

You might conside serving your eviction notices to the problem folks and see if they clean up their act. If not give them the boot and do extensive background checks on the next tenants. Make sure the park rules allow for eviction of tenants with siblings that are disruptive. Create new park rules if necessary. Be sure and have all the statutes that govern mobile parks in your juristiction at your disposal. You can download those from your States site.

I am getting rid of my last problem tenant as I write this, and I will have to deal with his junk trailer that he will not sign over. Idaho statutes do not provide for this.

Good luck..JB

[Chrissy Jackson]

Sorry for the delay in answering your query; I'm battling cancer and sometimes don't get on the computer for several days at a time. I have had this problem before in some of my communities. While some of John's ideas are good, they are not immediate solutions, which is what I think you want. There are several things I have done that helped. One is to call a general resident's meeting. Come armed with statistics about property damage, vandalism, and other types of misbehavior you are experiencing. Have the appropriate policing authority there with you - city, sheriff, or state police - depending on which one answers your calls. Stress to the residents the following things: there were no facilities for entertainment when they moved in, you don't plan on providing any, it is their responsibility to supervise all occupants of their home. Be very careful of the wording you use - never children - always occupants of their home. Ask the residents if they are tired of putting up with the unsupervised behavior from occupants of other homes. Suggest they start a Neighborhood Watch along with support of the local policing authority. You and other interested neighbors can patrol in the evenings - never alone, preferable in groups of 3 or 4. Take a camera or two along and take pictures of what you see, trying to get identifying faces. Document vandalism and property damage. Send a letter to all residents, alerting them that you and other concerned adults will be walking the community. Suggest that all residents take responsibility for keeping all other occupants of their home inside the home or on the property after a reasonable hour - state the hour in the letter - maybe 8 pm. The idea is that you don't want an innocent person photographed or accused of doing something when they aren't guilty. If they are in their home or in their yard, they won't be. I had a 600 site property when I did this and it was in the spring, just like you are facing now. You have to get a handle on this before the weather gets any warmer. It took me and about 15 other adult residents almost 30 days to get it under control, and from there they formed a Neighborhood Watch and did it themselves. Good luck to you.

[Shawn Sisco]

I implemented a 6pm curfew in my land-lease community almost 4 years ago, it has had a very positive effect on the community. I mention the curfew in advertisements - it appeals very much to the top-shelf residents, and lets others know up front that this is not the place for lazy uninvolved parents, which in turn helps public perception of my community.

One question, our neighborhood watch program fizzles out as soon as I hand off leadership to the residents. Local law enforcement is very helpful,and tries hard to engage the residents, but I can't seem to get residents to think of neighborhood watch as their program.

[Denise Moore]

First off everyone is hearing the words "problem teens" and I agree that you are having a problem. They are giving you tools for eviction, and heard you say "I can not evict everyone". I also heard "Manager is fed up". That is what I want to address.

I have been a property manager and regional property manager for 20 plus years.

This is my suggestion. It sounds like the manager has been threatening and threatening without follow up or support so now the threats have no weight or teeth. So to continue to threaten is useless. Even if you pick one and evict them you have lost your authority. First and formost you have to make a committment to the solution as a property owner and decide to what extent you want to deal with this problem. DO YOU WANT TO FIX IT? It will mean evictions which equals loss of revenue and vacancies.

1. Stop threatening if you do not fully plan on following through.
2. If you have made the committment you will need to send out a letter addressed to each resident "Not to whom it might concern lot # 45". This letter is to outline the new zero tolerance policy. Give them 60 days and then follow through.
3. Do not bluff-if they call it. You are sunk again.
4. Pick out the worst family with the worst kept homesite and the worst payment history and get a 3 bang for your buck.
5. Consider the manager, does she have what it takes, do you need to make a change. Is she a resident with friends in the community, etc.You get what you pay for.

Chrissy is right, that you need to empower your residents to be apart of the solution and the neighborhood watch program works great.

Good Luck
DMoore