Major footer foul up

[CHRIS]

Way back in January I made the decision to give up my home search for
a traditional home and buy a brand new Skyline double wide. The
process started out simple enough but has gone downhill. I am renting
a private lot from a corporation that manages MHP's and Apartments.
The lot was sized for up to a 28 x 70 home, mine is 66 x 28 well
within the specs.

Upon renting the lot the landlord sited the lot and staked where the
corners of the home are to sit, all by the book. After almost a 2
month wait for permits from the township, the home only took 1 month
to build and sat, we finally started work on the footers.

My dealer sold me the home under an all-inclusive price that included
the home, footers, stairs, skirting, the only exception being any
"special" requirements required by my landlord. So far so good.

After the 3 rd footer was poured a problem was discovered. There was a
dead tree stump right where a footer need to go. It was apparently
from a old tree that was knocked over by a tornado back in the 80's,
the previous home was a single wide and they just build a deck over
it, BTW this home and deck was removed when I rented the lot.

So the dealers 3rd party contractor under the guidance of the dealer
pro ceded to attempt to remove this stump, keep in mind I was never
asked if I wanted to do this nor was told it will cost x amount of
dollars to do this, it was just done. Removing the stump involved
excavation of a 30 foot by 30 foot by 15 foot deep hole, all for a
tree stump. Well to make long story short by the time all this was
done and the footers were poured the cost went from the dealers
estimate of 4500 (remember this was all inclusive pricing) to 22000.

The dealer is attempting to collect this money from my landlord, I am
not hope full they will pay but they might. If they do not my dealer
said "we will work out a payment schedule" to which I said nothing.

I am concerned about 2 things

1. If my landlord does pay can they jack up my rent to recoup there
losses since I am on the lot now and my lease is month to month, or are there law to protect me from
this.

2. If they don't pay and come after me am I actually responsible for
this money or do I get an attorney and try to make the dealer eat it.

Honestly had someone actually told me the cost and asked me if I
wanted it done I would have said no and just looked for another lot
but I am stuck in the situation the dealer has forced me into.

Any advice or similar experiences out there?

[Dan]

Chris,
In advance of a problem, take your paperwork to a lawyer and make sure your contract covers complete footer installation with no out for exceptional circumstances or unforseen problems.

If the retailer does come back for a payment plan, you can always refer him to your lawyer.
Good luck

[Pendragon]

Your dealer should have gotten approval before expending additional funds, you need to contact your dealer and explain that this was not approved by you. As such, his only recourse is to absorb the loss. No way that money should have been spent without both approval from you AND your lender.

[CHRIS]

Thanks guys, there are some murky points to this so I think I owe it to myself to have an attorny review my paperwork and situation before this all hits the fan on closing day.

It would probably also help to show these guys I am not as green as they think I am.