Q. Can my landlord evict me for organizing a cooperative?

A. No! It is illegal to evict someone for organizing fellow residents. The relationship between the cooperative and the landlord can even improve as the residents purchase the park. The goal of the two parties is to reach an agreement that is affordable to the residents and gives the landlord a fair return on his/her investment. The relationship is one of a buyer and a seller.

Q. How can we afford to buy our park?

A. The cooperative borrows the money to purchase the park from a financial institution. Your combined rents pay the costs to operate the park and make the mortgage payments for the park. An operating budget is prepared and feasibility study is prepared to determine what you can afford.

Q. Who would collect the 'rent' and pay the bills?

A. The elected Board of Directors will be responsible for determining how the collections of rent and paying of bills will be handled. They may decide to self manage, hire a property manager or employ staff.

Q. What is the risk to me?

A. Members of a cooperative are not personally liable for the cooperative's mortgages or other debts. The cooperative will also carry liability insurance for the park in case someone is injured on the premises.

Q. What charges are there if we own the park as a cooperative?

A. The cooperative has two "charges" for the member resident. The first is the lot rent or carrying charge which is collected monthly to pay for operating expenses (taxes, insurance, trash, etc.) and debt service (mortgage payments). The second is the onetime membership fee which is decided upon by the cooperative. Members can either pay this fee in full or in monthly installments until fully paid. Once the membership fee is fully paid, the member then only pays the lot rent.

Q. What if you decide you do not want to become a member?

A. You may remain as a tenant and pay rent to the cooperative. Since members pay the membership fee and participate in the work of the cooperative, non-members pay a higher rent than members do.

Q. How is the cooperative different from a tenants association?

A. A tenants association is organized by tenants in landlord-owned parks for the purposes of negotiating in response to rent increases, park maintenance or to buy the park. A cooperative is legally organized for the purposes of owning and managing the manufactured housing park.

Q. I do not plan on living here forever. Can I move?

A. Yes. You can sell your house as you otherwise would. When you sell your home your membership share is bought back by the cooperative. The buyer of your home must become a member of the cooperative.

Q. How does the cooperative manage the park?

A. The cooperative can choose to either self-manage the park or hire a manager. In the self-management case, management is done on a voluntary basis with member time and therefore comes at no cash expense to the cooperative. Members participate on either the Board of Directors or on one of the committees (maintenance, finance, social, membership, and grievance) to manage the park. Cooperatives may hire a manager or financial management company to collect the carrying charges and rents, maintain the park, and manage the affairs of the park under the direction of the cooperative.