THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504060263
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: LANDLORDS & TENANTS
SOURCE: Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Q. Last fall, my husband lost his job and we fell six weeks behind in making the rent payments on the lot where we have our manufactured home. I asked the landlord for additional time to catch up on my rent and he said he was going ahead with legal action anyway. He did.
He obtained a judgment against us for the delinquent rent and other expenses in accordance with our lease, and also obtained an order for us to move from the park.
My husband now has a job and we can pay not only the judgment amount, but we can bring all rent payments up to date and should have no difficulty in paying rent in the future.
We asked the landlord to let us stay in the park and told him we would pay what we owed.
He said he did not want us in the park at all because we had fallen behind in the rent. He told us to move out in two weeks. We cannot sell or arrange to move our manufactured home within that period of time.
Can he tell us to get out if we pay all our delinquent rent? If he does have the right to tell us to get out, can he order us to move within two weeks?
A. First of all, the landlord did obtain a judgment against you and there was an order for you to move, so the landlord does have the right to insist that you leave the premises. But we do not think the landlord is wise in doing such a thing.
You fell behind in your rent because of unemployment, your husband has obtained employment, you can pay all the judgment, and you can catch up on all delinquent rent and continue to pay it in the future.
The landlord ought to be very happy to have such a tenant. However, he can order you to move.
As to requiring you to move within 14 days, he cannot do that. The Virginia Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act states that ``a resident who has been evicted from a manufactured home park shall have 90 days after judgment has been entered in which to sell the home or remove the home from the park.
``Such a resident shall be responsible for paying the rental amount for regular maintenance of the home lot during the period between the date of the eviction and the sale of the home or the removal of the home from the park.
``The resident who maintains the right to keep the manufactured home in the park shall be conditioned upon the payment of all rent accrued prior to the date of the judgment and prospective monthly rent as it becomes due.''
Therefore, you have 90 days from the date of the judgment within which to move; the landlord cannot put you out within 14 days.
For your information, since we know it is difficult to move a manufactured home from a lot, there is another section of the Code of Virginia that says ``the landlord shall not unreasonably refuse or restrict the sale or rental of a manufactured home located in his manufactured home park by a tenant.
``The landlord shall not prohibit the manufactured home owner from placing a `for sale' on or in his home except that the size, placement and character are subject to the rules and regulations of the park.'' MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. is a real estate lawyer based in Norfolk. Send
comments and questions to him at Real Estate Weekly, 150 W. Brambleton
Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
by CNB