Member News – Legal Seminars for Community Managers

 

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL: (CML 101, 201, 301)

For the past three years OMHA has offered a three part community manager series to accommodate the growing need for professional community manager education.  Topics featured were: Evictions, Collections, Tenant Screening, Park Operations, Sales, Title Transfers, Abandoned Homes, Consumer Protection, Health Dept, OMHC, Resident Relations, Marketing, Incentives, and more.  These courses will continue to be offered every other year – next series will be scheduled in 2016.

 Capstone to be offered in 2016:   

OMHA is also announcing its first Community Manger Certification and Capstone Class for those who have participated in the entire series.   Are you putting your best foot forward?  Let OMHA help you put together a marketing plan that SELLS!  Digital Marketing, Driving Traffic with Low Tech Tactics, Curb Appeal,  Battling Stereotypes, and more! This final course will focus on long term planning for a community business owner.  Class outline is below

(Register Here!)

LEGAL WEBINARS FOR COMMUNITIES:

Abandoned Homes, Evictions,  Application/Leases, Fair Housing/Retaliation, Rules, SAFE Act, Rental Units, and  Misc Legal Updates

We have received a lot of feedback asking us to offer the class online for those who have cannot travel or have time constraints etc.   OMHA provided a several webinars in 2014.  We will continue to offer these on an as needed basis.   The 1-hour webinars will be offered throughout the year to provide a quick “review” for the folks who have already attended the full classes and/or encourage more members to participate in the future.

Topic Outline Below

 101

Legal:

• The Application Process: Basic Requirements for your application and process, Written criteria
• Leases and what needs to be offered and included/not included: Lease term and rent, Fees, One Year Offer and acknowledgment , Attorney Fee Provisions and Court Costs, Security Deposit, Standard clauses, Record retention policy
• Rules of the Community – what should be addressed and the legal standard of review and consistency: Problems
• Evictions: Three Day Notice, Collections, Schwartz v. McAtee- Default and Material Rule Violations, Writing and Notices for Material Rule Violations, Eviction Court-choosing Legal Representation
• 55+ and Open Communities: Differences between, How to ,and Rules
• Fair Housing – what it is, the laws and the basics on what to do to comply
• Sales – The minimum sales under the law, Office qualifications, What you and Employees should be doing, Licensing-how do you want to sell
• Operations: When do old homes come out/new homes come in, How to maintain community standards, Lot issues – who’s responsible for what,   Access issues, Utility issues, Rent – How to collect and what to do when they don’t pay, Handling bad behavior of residents  
• Dept of Health and Ohio MH Commission 

 

Management:

· The basic duties of a community manager

· The importance of developing relationships with local agencies

· Newsletters and Communications with residents

· Knowing what you need to be licensed for to do what.

· Resident Relations: Doing things for the residents to developing a better rapport with them

 

201

Legal:

· Application Process: 55+ community vs. Open Community, What you need to document, A secure system for application information – Red Flag Compliance,  Rejection letters or communication – what to tell the resident, Who can you reject and why – documenting the process

·  Lease: Real life legal actions and lease issues, Terms of the lease – Multi-year, Increasing rent, Rules changes – why and how to do it, Year terms versus month-to-month, Collection under the lease, Fees, Waiver of liability/unconscionable terms, Lease to Own issues

·  Resident Relations: Warnings versus Material Violation Notices, Animal control issues (dog bites, strays, behavioral problems), Signage and solicitation, When residents don’t get along – playing social cop, Positive marketing ideas that are legally wrong, How to handle the unauthorized resident, When the resident dies – what to do, Traffic and security

·  Evictions: Naming the right defendant, The difference between First and Second Cause and what you want to do, How to prepare for a successful Material Rule Eviction, Trespassing letters, When to allow the evictee back, Post-residency criminal records and activity, The sex offender

·  Retaliation Issues:  What they are and what the law states you can do, What to be aware of and how it can haunt you

·  Fair Housing Issues: Assistance animals and physical accommodations, National origin issues/familial status discrimination, Extra occupant charges, Handicap  – drug and alcohol

·  Resident Associations: what you can allow and should allow

·  Abandoned Homes: What to do to get title

Management:

· Tactics on delivering violations and getting the residents to respond well

· Marketing

· More resident relations options

· Ways to find past residents to aid in abandoned homes searches

· Working with the health dept instead of against them

 

301

Legal:

· Application Process: How to legally screen for who you want: 55+ – How to achieve the designation and make your 80% and 20% work for you, Open Communities – Steering Issues, Credit Options – when you can use this to deny otherwise qualified applicant, Co-signors and legal issues, The Community as a lienholder?, Home Recipient Programs – legal issues when you give away a home, What to do when you have a tester-applicant, Felonies after the acceptance – and not on your background check,

· Leases: Collection Issues under your Lease – Second Cause Collection, Real life legal actions involving leases, Legal ways to collect legal fees, Utility issues – collection and termination advice

· Resident Relations: What the police are responsible for, Criminal activity – what you should do and have to do when you know, Sales – what you can and  cannot do – Consumer Sales Practices Law, Sales:  Who’s responsible for lot development?  What can you charge and how, Who’s responsible for liability for injury?  Issues and nightmares that come true, Burned or destroyed homes, what to do, When to use an outside dealer

· Evictions:  What the Auditor can do for you – BMV forms and title tricks, Consent Entry – the eviction is not the end, Rent Deposit Issues, Acceptance of Late Rent, Set Out Issues, Strategic evictions, When is it enough for a material violation win

· Fair Housing:  What to do when you receive a Complaint, Assistance animals, The Position Statement, Finding the value of the complaint, Is ADR worth it?, Wellness programs and other incentive plans – check first

· Retaliation: Preparing for the claim, How the Ohio Dept. of Health can hurt and help you, Your references and defamation/slander

· Abandoned Homes: Publication Issues, Deceased Resident, Buying out versus going for title

Management:

· Basic concept of budgets. How to understand the important parts of them and how to aid in achieving your community’s goal

· Ways to get sites filled and to avoid losing homes

· Brokering homes for cash, the ins and outs

· Using bank repo lists etc.

 

 

On November 8, 2013   /   Best Practices, Frequently Asked Questions, Member News   /   Leave a comment