Good parks offer amenities for their tenants like well-manicured surroundings, play areas, and pools. They must ensure the property is safe and that utilities are functioning while offering fair lot rents that don’t increase every year for no good reason.
In return, tenants promise to pay their monthly rent on time and follow the rules of the park. But what happens when the rules are strange and over-reaching?
In this article, we are sharing 17 bizarre mobile home park rules.
Weird Mobile Home Park Rules about Pets and Other Animals
Every rule listed below had to stem from a single incident.
Whatever the reason, managers found the issue serious enough to add it to the rules and regulations section in their lease. In several of these cases, the park managers may have over-reached their boundaries and impeded the rights of the tenants in the park.
No Exotic Pets
Bill Blades is a regular contributor to our Facebook Page, Mobile Home Living: Remodels and Repairs, and has a beautiful single wide in a nice park. He said his last park had a ‘no exotic pets’ rule before they decided to move there. Fortunately, he went back a few months later to see about an exception, and lo-and-behold, new owners were purchasing the park and they welcomed his iguana. Here’s his cute little iguana looking for a snack:
No Pets in Your Own Home?
The no pet rule in parks really upset me. I love animals – have 2 cats and 2 dogs and a dwarf hamster. Of course, I can understand a no pets rule if you are renting a home. I can also understand the aggressive breed rules for dogs. But if you own the mobile home and rent the lot you should be able to do whatever you want inside your own home as long as it doesn’t impede on your
One of the best perks of owning your own home is getting to have pets!
Jacki W. told us that when she first moved into her mobile 15 yrs ago the park had a no pets rule, not even an indoor cat. Thankfully, new park owners lifted the ridiculous rule.
“I own my mobile, rent their land, and they wanted to tell me what I could do within the mobile that I own?”
Jacki W.
Leigh A. says she had the same ridiculous rule in her park until January 2019. They couldn’t even have a goldfish in her owned home! Luckily, she got new park owners, too.
While Marianne’s park allowed pets, she had to pay $20 per month per pet, even for an indoor pet. I wonder if an aquarium was counted as one pet? That could get expensive!
If Lynn’s manager finds any doggie piles on a tenant’s lawn they get charged $20 per pile. She says she doesn’t have a dog so she better not ever get charged!
Related: Read about the Advantages And Disadvantages Of Mobile Home Parks here.
No Dogs Above Knee-High?
Ann S. says her park has a rule against large dogs but it’s based on height, not weight. Dogs need to be knee-high or shorter. Luckily, she has a 50lb Basset/Aussie mix that is super short so she can keep her. Yay!
Speaking of vicious and aggressive dog breeds, Sue Ellen Borchers-Binter’s park doesn’t allow Pugs. I had no idea pugs were considered dangerous?
I understand that animals can create issues in a mobile home park. If I knew a neighbor had snakes in their home I would be very uncomfortable and probably scare myself to death by imagining them getting loose. I would be a mess! I understand a lot of people are scared of animals, especially dogs. Admittedly, I get a little nervous around certain breeds. However, some of these rules about animals are a bit weird and over-reaching.
No Feeding the Squirrels!
Cheryl has to pay a $20 dollar fine if her park catches her feeding squirrels.
No shooting the Vermin
I thought Mitchell was pulling my leg when he commented that his park has a rule prohibiting vermin shooting. When I questioned him he shared the actual rule list and sure enough, it says “Please keep the property safe by not firing at vermin that come into the park.”
Don’t Air Your Laundry on Sundays
Sandy B. couldn’t hang out her laundry to dry on Sundays in her first mobile home park in the
Thomas B. can’t air his dirty laundry on Sundays, or anything else for that matter. In fact, he can’t do much of anything on Sundays; no hanging out laundry, mowing the lawn or using any kind of power equipment on Sundays.
Cosmetic Rules
HOAs and mobile home park rules are disliked for a lot of reasons, mostly because they overreach and try to control everything. The following weird mobile home park rules deal with cosmetics and aesthetics and are a bit over controlling.
“It was there when we moved in. It’s not ours but somehow the cost of repairs is.”
Julie B.
Sable L. cannot plant anything anywhere, not even in patio pots, without board approval.
In Patricia’s park, there can be no dirt showing in the planters or anywhere on your lot.
The days of the famed victory garden are long gone in Rory A.’s park. They are not allowed to have even a small garden on their lot.
Julie found a lot in a park but it had an old shed on it that she wasn’t particularly fond of. Shortly after she moved in she received a notice to paint the shed at her expense. She states, “It was there when we moved in. It’s not ours but somehow the cost of repairs is.”
Jacki W. had that same kind of issue over a lamp post that no longer worked. When she moved in she asked to have it removed but they told her she had to do it herself and pay to dispose of it. She rightfully says, “It’s not my land, why is it my lamp post?”
Park Amenities Problems
Kaci’s park has a playground but the park has a rule where kids under 14 are not allowed to play on it. That makes no sense!
Catie says her park has a beautiful community room but there’s a $300 cleaning deposit and you cannot rent it unless all the people at your event live in the park. So no friends or family at birthday parties? That’s ridiculous!
Leigh A. has a pool at her mobile home community but you have to sign in to use the pool and then a park employee sits and watches you swim. She says the employee isn’t even a lifeguard. In addition to the creepy watcher, the pool is only open from July to Labor Day and weekend hours are only 2-7pm.
Leigh’s park also has a rule that tenants can have no overnight guests unless the manager is notified first. She says new owners have recently taken over so hopefully things change.
Regularly Raising Rent
Cassandra M. says her park doesn’t have any weird mobile home park rules but they increase lot rent so often and each time it’s a higher amount. Lot rent can’t be raised easily in most states and to do it in the middle of a tenant contract requires some extenuating circumstances, one of those being new park owners. She says the rent has been raised so many times that she is suspicious the ‘new owners’ are actually the same company that is just changing names/titles.
Lori C. told us that her lot rent goes
Getting Soaked for a Waterbed
Mindy W. lived in a court that required permission to have a waterbed.
It’s my freaking house!!! What were they afraid the grass on the lot would get wet?
Mindy W.
In addition to getting preapproval by the park owners to have a waterbed, Mindy also had to list the owners as co-beneficiary on her homeowner’s insurance policy.
Wait. What?
Fortunately, Mindy is no pushover and she did a little research. She asked her insurance company about listing the park owners as co-beneficiaries on her private homeowner’s insurance policy and they told her it was not legally required for the court owners to be listed as co-beneficiary and they couldn’t evict her for non-compliance. However, they could come up with a reason if they really wanted you gone.
She continued, “There was actually only one company in our city that would even do a policy like that and from what I heard it was the company that the court owners used. I could tell you so many more ridiculous stories but I’m sure we’ve all been there!”
Heavy-Handed Mobile Home Park Rules are Finally Making Headlines
Mobile home park rules are getting so out of hand that they are making headline news. One park was featured in the Boulder Colorado Daily Camera in an article called Mobile Home Park Residents Worry New Owners, ‘Heavy-Handed Rules’ Will Force Them Out.
Cheryl Muhovich had lived in San Souci, a quaint Boulder CO mobile home park, for 21 years. She only had 7 more payments to own her mobile home outright. In August 2018, the 62 lot park was purchased for $3.85 million by RV Horizons, the fifth-largest ‘holder’ of mobile home communities in the US. Soon after purchasing it they left a 17-page packet on the tenant’s doors filled with new requirements, some “could force residents like Muhovich to make thousands of dollars in upgrades or face eviction.”
The new rules were fairly standard though a bit heavy-handed: no more than 2 cars in the driveway, if a car isn’t registered or licensed it has to be dent and rust-free, no statues or lawn ornaments, no skateboarding or climbing trees, no cars on ramps for more than 3 hours, and no loitering or ‘wandering’ the streets after 9 pm.
The most concerning rule is the one called, Owner’s Right of Self-Help:
“RV Horizons gives itself the power to make changes, without notifying residents, and then send a bill for whatever work was done — Section 3B of the rules and regulations document, under the heading “Owner’s Right of Self-Help.””
Conclusion
Of course, not all mobile home parks have weird or overreaching park rules. But before you move a home into a park it’s important that you research that park and its management. Ask tenants in the park about their experiences and the issues in the park. Knocking on doors and asking questions can keep you from making the wrong choice.
Mobile home parks have a lot of power and tenants have very little. In many states, a park only needs to give a 30-day notice to evict or shut down. Louisiana only requires a 10-day notice. That means a mobile home owner renting a lot must have the thousands of dollars it takes to move the home to another park or property and that’s assuming they can even find one. Before you move into a park and give them that kind of power it’s important that you understand the management and its history.
Do you live in a park with weird rules? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below, on our Facebook Page, or on our new Facebook Group called Mobile Home Living: Remodels and Repair where homeowners ask questions and post beautiful remodels.
As always, thank you for reading Mobile Home Living!
Image Source: flickr – thong xanh
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The Park I live has the water lines plus power lines underground so yes, they want you to contact them prior to planting trees to find out what trees are allowed. They have to be trees that don’t have major root systems because of the water lines and power lines! The Park owners here are responsible for the maintenance of the trees. One time the workers butchered my trees in the backyard. And so they don’t have to take care of the trees, just take them out!! Yes, they took the took in my front yard out, not the ones in the backyard, it will be over my dead body because we already have the sun coming in our family room all day, I don’t want it coming in my bedroom all day as well!!
I believe they are wrong but you should investigate!! I believe it is 2 people per bedroom plus 2 people for the living room!
“Good point! Parks are only as good as management!”
No. Parks are only as good as the tenants. It is like any small city. No rules. Chaos. Mobile home parks get a bad reputation because the tenants think they own the lot and do what the want, regardless of the rules and regulations. The first thing you are handed when you apply to live in the park are the rules and regulations. Most tenants throw them in the drawer and never read them. Mobile home parks did not get a bad reputation because of managers, but becasue of tenants.
I live at a park in North Texas. The manager patrols the park to issue even the slightest violation. EXCEPT, her own home which is the messiest of any.
We can’t park on the street and there are only 13 guest parking spaces and 10 are usually filled by residents due to only 2 cars per house allowed. Cars a frequently towed. EXCEPT her place where 4 cars were parked in her driveway all weekend.
No landscaping without permission. No tree planting. Constant threats of evictions or fines. Very sorry I moved here. Lots of residents on edge all the time.
I wish I had researched our MH community BEFORE purchasing. Our community rules are inconsistent, biased, and subject to change without written notice. I know the games they play but others, especially renters, are very intimidated by their scare tactics. It’s an unhappy and suspicious of one another community. So much for living in rural New Jersey. And no amenities! Not even a community bulletin board.
Can they forbid you to walk your dog in the park? What can they do to you if you don’t obey?
I live in a park at the foot of Big Bear Mtn in So Cal. It is a nice park but mgmt refuses to maintain the trees but that’s another story. Our park rules say that your dog may not walk on any streets in the park, you must carry your dog to your car. I have a dog walk area right behind my home, others are not as lucky. In the spring the weeds/bushes are over 3ft tall. My little dog is only about 8ins high at the shoulder. I have to ask every year to get the area trimmed up. Since the onsite mgr walks her dog out her door, down around other units and sometimes onto a greenbelt in her area, I can’t see how the rule can be enforced. I live in the top section with approximately 20 units and 7 dogs. I believe I am the only one who consistently uses a leash and who’s dog does not get out and run amok in the park.
What is the name of your community?
How do I find out if my park can legally raise the rent every year? In Texas
I own a 3 bedroom, 2 bath mobile home in a park in NH…..the park owner say only 2 people are allowed to live in it…..anymore and the rent will go up 10%. I think that is ridiculous since it’s already a 3 bedroom home.
It depends on what state. Feeding feral cats in a mobile home community continues to allow for disease to spread to other animals within the Mobile Home community. Feral cats get under the skirting of Mobile homes to live there they take the other animals that they kill, birds, mice, ducks under the mobile homes then those animals rot. When home owners don’t maintain their homes underneath then it leads to other problems. More mice, ants, roaches. One problem leads to another then another. By taking a Feral cat and relocating them to a farm or an area that there services are more needed makes more sense to a property manager.
Wow, those are some crazy rules! Especially the rules about the deck!
We live in Peru Indiana! Our park rules are crazy and out of this world! One you can not have folding chairs they are considered camping chairs! You can’t not have anything under your deck or on your deck! Your lawn must be no more then three inches long! You can not have a fire pit! Our ac broke down and we asked to put a window ac in our bedroom till it got fixed and was told yes but it can’t face the street! We are lucky to have a grill! That’s the only thing that can be on our deck! No more then two cars per a lot at all times no parking on the grass and the list goes on!
She would want to request a copy of the park rules that show that it’s not allowed.
That’s definitely a crazy rule, I would ask them to show you that in writing in the park rules.
My mobile home park manager told my neighbor that her bird feeder is illegal. That’s BS, I Iive in AZ
We have feral cats, my neighbor feeds them, traps them and takes the to get. spayed and neutered, was told she cannot feed them on her lot, gave her a 60 day notice is this legal??
I’ve been in my park for almost 30 years. I raised both of my children here as a single parent. The original owners have passed away and their children have taken over. Now they charge me 100.00 for my children to stay here if they stay more than 12 days in a month. We cannot have any flowers or use water outside for any reason..period. They have gone up on the rent over 100.00 in a year. Not sure how much longer I will be here.
In our park, we also have to request permission to plant trees, but it’s because certain species of trees have roots that are known to invade septic tank systems and render them useless.
We live in a small park in western NC with mostly older mobile homes, as is ours. We have a small lake, but no other amenities. We pay $300 space rent which includes water and trash. Our rent hasn’t been raised in the last two years we have lived here, and most of the rules are reasonable. I am appalled at the rent rates others are paying in other locations! I truly doesn’t sound fair to me.
That’s awesome, Christine! It would be great if all parks were like that!
I am extremely Blessed to live in my Senior Mobile Home Community!!! The only rules are totally logical ones. The owners are also the Managers AND maintenance persons. They are forgiving on late rent payments; always willing to make arrangements!!! They are the nicest people I’ve met in a long time. I consider myself to be very lucky to live here. I’m in Western Washington state.
Our rules say no pets on the streets. So if need be, you must carry your animal to your car.
Plus you must ask before planting any trees. I guess its because mgmt is responsible for maintaining the trees. Just try to get mgmt to trim a tree in our park….
They also write owners up for an unsightly yard, without even looking to see who’s yard the mess in actually in.
Good point! Parks are only as good as management!
I wish my Park had most of those rules. Where I live there are hardly any rules and the Park looks pretty rundown because of it.