All, I've gotten my trailer park ready for trailers. New underground electricity, septic tanks, water lines, fresh grading so the trailers sit in nicely. I just have no idea where to get a lease agreement and bylaws for the park. I want a clean and nice park for the tenants, so I know I need to have strict guidelines in place. Can anyone help me out here or point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.
@Myles Daniel Check with your local manufactured housing association. Usually, they provide sample documents and forms that can be used to their members. They are a good source of information and resource. Hope that helps!
Congrats on getting the park set up and ready to go!
You have a couple of options for a lease.
1. With the help of a real estate attorney, draw one up. This will give you the most flexibility and ensure you have something that covers all the bases in your area. It will also likely be the most expensive option.
2. Bring a lease to the attorney to double check. You can draw it up yourself or get one from someone else. You can also combine a few different leases, taking your favorite parts from each. However, you will definitely still want to have this checked by your attorney. There are some very clever tenants out there who will take advantage of any holes in your lease, plus you don't want to be doing anything illegal, right?
It looks like you are already off to the right start if you go with option 2. Hopefully, you can get a few more MHP investors to help out here. You might also want to try the MHU forums or even get in contact with whoever is answering email questions for the site and ask them if they could provide you with a sample lease. @Frank Rolfe has been running parks for decades so while I don't know if he would be able to share his lease with you it couldn't hurt to ask!
Feel free to message me anytime if you have other questions or just want to chat. Good luck with the new park!
@Myles Daniel Check with your local manufactured housing association. Usually, they provide sample documents and forms that can be used to their members. They are a good source of information and resource. Hope that helps!
@Myles Daniel I would echo the guidance from @Rachel H. above. The reason why is the landlord/tenant laws for MHPs are unique to MHPs, so starting with an attorney who is extremely familiar with those laws will be smart. I would not recommend working with an attorney who does not already work with park owners in this capacity.