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Camas Mobile Home Park issues may find solutions
Real estate investor Larry Tardie, who purchased Creswell's 55 and older Camas Mobile Home Park in early September this year, has added a second aphorism to the more famous one relating to real property, adding "communication, communication, communication to "location, location, location." Tardie's willingness to meet with park tenants to discuss a series of missteps that began shortly after he acquired the property, and his ability to react positively to sometimes angry comments defused what could have been a confrontational situation at a Dec. 7 meeting. Tardie, who said he owns several manufactured home parks in other states, told meeting attendees that he had been unaware that Oregon statutes require manufactured home park owners to give a minimum of 180 days' notice of rent increases when he sent a Sept. 18 letter to park tenants informing them that city water and sewer charges were to be added to their rent immediately. "The water bills you were given were inappropriate," he said, handing out new bills with the erroneous charges removed. "We didn't do it properly," he said, assuring tenants that anyone who had paid water bills would receive a refund or credit on the next month's rent. "I made a big mistake by not having this meeting first and I apologize for that," he said, "I'm not going to leave here until every question is answered." Explaining that he purchases under-managed parks and improves them as long-term investments, Tardie said, "It's going to be several years before I recoup the money I'm spending on the park." After several park tenants told him that former owners of the park had included water and sewer charges in the rent and they would have difficulty paying higher amounts, he responded, "I understand that this is a 55 and over park and most of you are on fixed incomes." He offered to talk to tenants about a rent subsidy if the situation was dire and they truly could not afford to pay increased rents, indicating that he used an income analysis similar to the federal Section Eight program. Angry park tenants had met at the Creswell Community Center on Nov. 29 to organize a tenants' association with a board of directors. They chose a spokesman, who contacted Tardie by telephone, leading to the Dec. 7 meeting, also held at the community center. Approximately 28 tenants attended both meetings. The park has 37 spaces. Those who spoke during the second meeting reiterated complaints voiced at the first one, including their suspicions that much of the apparent water consumption was actually the result of deteriorated and leaky water lines, as opposed to tenants' excessive water use. "The reason that meters were installed was lack of concern for the amount of water used in the park," Tardie said. "I have personally seen hoses running full bore when a tenant paused to talk to a friend while washing a car." Tardie said that he had repaired water leaks revealed when he had had individual water meters installed, that the onus was on him to fix water lines in the park and that he was in the process of securing a permit to install a back flow value to prevent contaminated water from possible sewer line leaks entering water lines. Tardie told park tenants that, after installation of individual water meters and repairing some lines, the park's November water bill had decreased to $1,518 from the October charge of $2,037. "Twenty percent of the rent you pay goes to water, sewer and trash [collection] in the park," Tardie told the tenants. "I'm proposing that if you would be willing to be charged for actual water usage immediately [foregoing the 180-day-notice period], I would be willing to forgo any rent increases for this year and the next year." Whether tenants choose to begin paying for their actual water usage and a prorated share of sewer charges immediately or opt to wait 180 days remains to be seen. It seemed that several attendees did not understand completely Tardie's offer. "I want a nice place to live for nice people," Tardie said. "That's my motto for all my parks. You know what this park looked like when I bought it." One tenant suggested that able-bodied park tenants help others who were not physically able to clean up their spaces. "We could get together and help each other and get this place cleaned up," he said. It seems as though what appeared initially to be a bad situation might lead to an improved living situation through the joint efforts of a responsive park owner and tenants with a heightened sense of community. http://www.thecreswellchronicle.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=6037 |
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