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05/12/2009 12:53 PM
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In the current law, a park owner is required to give a 45-day first right to purchase the community to the residents if he offers the park for sale. Most park owners do not advertise their communities for sale; however. Instead, they contact brokers and other park owners via phone and e-mail to determine if any one is interested. Then when a person approaches the park owner with an offer that wasn’t solicited (an unsolicited offer), the park owner does not have to give the residents a 45-day notice. Of course, trying to prove the offer was unsolicited is difficult as smart park owners do not leave a paper trail and mounting a legal battle would be too costly for homeowners. Thus, in many instances, homeowners do not have an opportunity to purchase due to the numerous loopholes that are found in the current law. The legislative bills offered up this session were HB 609 along with companion bill in the senate SB 1032. The Senate bill died in the Committee on Regulated Industries where the bill had languished for the entire three-month session. The house bill died in the Insurance, Business and Financial Affairs Policy Committee where it was referred on Feb. 12. As is typical, there were some last-minute maneuvers to get portions of these bills amended onto other bills, but these tactics failed as well. (To review the bills and their track during the legislative process, see the link below.) I wasn’t surprised that the bills did not pass because the lobbyists from the Florida Manufactured Housing Association (FMHA), which represents park owners, are very good and its members have deep pockets. The organization that represents homeowners is the Federation of Manufactured Homeowners of Florida (FMO). Although they try, their membership has been declining for years and they simply do not have the political and monetary clout to push through legislation to help homeowners. Homeowners who heard of this year’s bills were hopeful that the 2009 session would be different. I had talked to several residents who asked me what I thought. I was truthful and said although the legislation may be good that doesn’t mean it gets passed. When I was the executive director of the FMO from 1992 to 1999 we were told in very specific terms by legislators at that time that no bill will pass unless it is agreed upon by both groups, meaning FMHA and FMO. Although that was 10 years ago, it seems the compromise bill idea is still flourishing among legislators, as the last legislation that was passed that affected homeowners was agreed to by both sides. Therefore, mobile home owners in Florida need to always ask this question first: Has this bill been agreed to by FMHA? If it hasn’t, the likelihood that any positive action actually happening in the state legislature is very slim. Although the prognosis for better legislation to fix loopholes in the current law is dim, there are still important things that homeowners can do and often don’t. They can create a homeowners association, then form a committee to continually keep up to date on the purchase process. There are so few homeowners associations board of directors who feel it is necessary to send a park owner a letter of intent or let their owner know that the residents are interested. If you don’t let the park owner know in writing of your interest to purchase, he’s not going to go out of his way to learn your opinion. There are some homeowner association boards who are very diligent and who every year make an offer to the park owner. They may get turned down every year, but at least the homeowners understand the process, know how much the community is worth in the current market and put the park owner on notice that they are interested. Park owners know when they have an informed board of directors who keep abreast of the current market values of the community. Homeowners are savvy, but too often, they throw up their hands and think nothing can be done if it isn’t legislated. That simply is not true. Homeowners need to take the initiative within their own communities as it will go a long way to making sure that they can get an opportunity to purchase. FOR HOMEOWNERS IN OTHER STATES: Although this article focuses on Florida’s mobile home law, you can check out organizations in your state to determine if there are any laws to protect homeowners. Click on the link below. In addition, there a few companies that assist residents with the purchase of their communities. To offer full disclosure, the parent company of this website does just that.
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