Ted I doubt that the old park manager can get a direct lien on your mobile home for back rent as in most jurisdiction they are possessory in nature. She is no longer in possession. I would guess that she can get a judgment lien for back rent but I suspect that the courts would be a little reluctant to allow a judgment lien execution against a mobile home that is being lived in. It may be possible but I think it would be highly unlikely.
I tried something similar once. I held a judgment for back rent, damages, costs etc. I tried to get the court to order the Sheriff to levy on the defendant’s current cash rental deposit on the next place they moved into. Is is not prohibited by California law (CCP sec. 690 et. seq. listed ALL exemptions from levies and cash rental deposits to subsequent landlords were not listed as exempt) but the judge refused to let me do it. Needless to say I didn’t make any friends in that court. I was right but I wasn’t the judge. Besides if you have perfected your note’s lien (by recording it with the appropriate agency in your state) it would be irrelevant because senior lien holders (aka-you) must be paid off from the Sheffif’s sale proceeds before the judgment creditor is paid anything. I doubt the the judgment holder would ask for a sale if it wouldn’t likely bring enough to satisfy both your lien and her judgment. I also doubt that any bidders would even show up at the sale. Remember also that the costs of the sale would be taxed (cash in advance) to the judgment holder. I think it would be a losing proposition for the old park manager. If the old PM couldn’t figure out how to enforce her possessory lien and prevent the mobile from being moved out of her park (thereby defeating her lien) then I doubt that she would be sophisticated enough to do anything more complicated.
Ted take a lesson from the old PM’s problem. Be sure your PM notifies you in case your buyer ever gets more than 5 1/2 seconds behind in her rent.
OK here’s the situation. I did a Lonnie deal with a single mom about 5 months ago. I get a call from the park manager today telling me he just had a visit from a woman who is the manager of another local park (I don’t have any homes in her park).
She tells him that the single mom (my buyer) skipped out of her park 6 months ago still owing $4000.- in back lot rent.
She now wants the current PM to provide her with all the information on the home(make,model,yr,ID#,etc) so she can place a lien aginst the home.
Two thoughts instantly cross my mind at this point,the first one being HOW IN THE WORLD!!! does this (woman) PM allow the single mom to go so long without taking action(evicting her).
The second being–can she actually lien this home and how could it effect me, especially if I needed to take the home back from the single mom for some reason in the future?
I should mention the single mom has not been a problem for me, she put $2000.- down and makes her $300.-\month payments on time.
Does anyone have any experience\expertise with a situation like this.
… but your problem is not unique. This has happened to many newbies on this board. It has also been discussed many times. I guess that doesn’t help you much now though.
Next time either have the tenant pay you directly, or check with your manager every month. I know this is tedious. I would have a long talk with the manager and ask him to notify you if any payment is more than 5 days late so you can take immediate action. In most areas you can pay the late payment, add it to your note and declare your note in default and start your foreclosure proceedings immediately (after proper notices which may run 60 days or more).
This just serves to point up another weakness in any business plan that puts YOUR money under the control of someone else (the PM).
You need to check out prospective purchasers VERY carefully before granting them the credit to buy your mobile. This is more important when you accept a smaller downpayment. I always stress that you can get a much higher return than the 100%-200% from Lonnie deals if you can get cash or a larger downpayment. I realize you can’t always get all cash but I also realize that most sellers rarely try. I ask for a lot of additional security) I try to get a trust deed on a house owned by the buyer’s family or friends etc.) or a couple of gold plated cosigners. I don’t always get them but often I do.
I recommend Lonnies books to everyone BUT, I also suggest that you do your own thinking and adapt his methods to better suit you own individual needs. One size doesn’t fit all. Common sense isn’t so common but it still rules.
Keep hanging around this board and eventually you will hear every just about every horror story possible.
A wise man learns from other’s mistakes: A fool scarcely from his own.
Talk to your lawyer today! I think you need to file a UCC 3 form on this unit to claim your lien first. what year it is makes a difference in NY because they did not start titles until 1990.
Craig I think you missed the piont on this post read it again. The park it is in now does not have a problem it is the last park the tennant was in. As far as I can see the old PM has no claim on proprty not owned by the tennant. End of story.