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Other Housing > Mobile Homes > When The Lot Rent Is Not Paid
  • I Am Buying My Mobile Home. 
    What Happens lf I Miss My Monthly Lot Rental Payment?

    If your mobile home lot is in a mobile home park then O.R.C. Chapter 4781 applies.  A mobile home park is defined as a tract of land on which three or more manufactured or mobile homes are located for residential purposes.  As a mobile home park resident under Chapter 4781 you have more rights than someone who does not live in a mobile home park. 

    For instance, there are defenses even for non-payment of lot rent.  Failure on the part of the park operator to fully disclose all fees, charges, or assessments prevents the park operator from collecting them or using the mobile home owner's failure to pay them as a cause for eviction.  Furthermore such fees cannot be increased without proper notice to mobile home residents.  Proper notice of the reasons for the eviction is also required.  Arbitrary enforcement of the park rules and retaliation are other defenses available to mobile home owners living in a mobile home park.

    However if the lot you are renting for your mobile home is not in a mobile home park, then you do not have the special statutory protections listed above nor those granted by Ohio's Landlord-Tenant Act (O.R.C. Chapter 5321) because you are only renting a lot and not a house, apartment or mobile home.  Still you may have defenses based on contract, such as a built-in grace period for payment of lot rent, or implied modification of payment due date by past acceptance of late payments or waiver of the breach by acceptance of a partial payment after delivery of the Notice to Leave the Premises. 

    There are also equitable defenses to the eviction that weigh the cost of moving a mobile home against the materiality of the breach of contract.  In one case it was determined that the lot owner could not refuse a late payment that made him whole and instead proceed with the eviction. 

    This area of law can be quite complex and often requires the expertise of an attorney.  If you cannot afford an attorney call 1-866-Law-Ohio or visit OhioLegalServices.org for your closest legal aid office.
Abandonment of Mobile Home

If you lose your mobile home eviction case, the judgment not only orders the residents off the property, but the mobile home is “evicted” as well. This is true for all mobile homes on land pursuant to a rental agreement between the owner of the mobile home and the owner of the land.   

Once an eviction order is issued, if you do not move the home, it and the personal property inside can be declared abandoned.  After 14 days, your home and property may be put up for sale by law enforcement authorities.  If it does not sell after two attempts, it will either be transferred to the park operator or destroyed. 

Procedures for Removal, Sale,
Destruction or Transfer of Abandoned
or Unoccupied Mobile Homes
 Time Period                           Action
 Day 1
  • Judge signs judgment entry which authorizes the removal, sale, transfer or destruction of mobile home and personal property.
 Day 4
  • Operator gives notice to owner to remove home within 14 days.
 Days
  4 to 19
  • Operator searches public records for other persons with possible legal interest in mobile home, compiles list of relatives in estates and lists of personal property with last-known owners.
 Day 19
  • Home owner’s last day to remove home.
 Day 20
  • Park operator requests Writ of Execution – must certify written notice and search for persons with legal interest.
  • Writ issues – law enforcement officials may remove and store or leave on site for sale; if estate case, must follow Probate Court orders.
 Day 21
  • Clerk of courts issues warning letter to owner; residents removed from home.
 Days
  21 to 81
  • Bailiff commences proceedings for sale – notice of sale to owner, notice to persons with legal interest, notice to county  auditor and treasurer.
  • If value less than $3,000, law enforcement official may order sale or destruction of home or transfer ownership to park operator.
  • Publication of sale in paper for ten days prior to sale (R.C. 2329.13(A)(2))
  • Sale of home (may be two attempts made) – if no sale, bailiff transfers title to park operator.
 Day
 Before Sale
  • Homeowner’s final right to redeem expires
  • Last day for property owners to remove personal property.
 After sale
  • Distribution of proceeds.
  • Court makes “careful examination” of sale – if approved, final judgment entry issues and clear title transferred to buyer.
   

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This website provides general legal information and not legal advice.  The law is complex and changes frequently. 
Before you apply any general legal information to a particular situation, consult an attorney. 
If you cannot afford an attorney call 1-866-Law-Ohio (1-866-529-6446) or visit OhioLegalHelp.org for your closest legal aid office.
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