Eviction from a mobile home park
If you’re facing eviction from your mobile home, the stakes can be high — especially if you own the mobile home but rent the lot. Here’s what you should do next.
A note on COVID-19: The U.S. Supreme Court ended the CDC Eviction Moratorium on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.
If you cannot pay your rent or are behind on rent, contact your local Community Action Agency as soon as possible to apply for rental assistance. Assistance is available in all 88 counties, for up to 12 months of missed rent and 3 months of future rent.
This page was last updated on 9.23.21.
Eviction from a mobile home can be different from other evictions. Usually, you own the mobile home and rent the lot. If you are evicted, you could end up losing your home. Because so much is at stake, Ohio law says that the park operator has to have a good reason to evict you like not paying rent or a "material violation" of the park rules.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) changes
The U.S. Supreme Court ended the CDC Eviction Moratorium on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.
Get help paying your rent. Ohio has allocated funding to Community Action Agencies to provide rent, mortgage and water and/or sewer assistance to Ohioans in need in all 88 counties. This assistance can help Ohioans pay outstanding balances back to April 1, 2020.
Ohio households behind on their bills with an annual income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines are eligible for assistance.
You can get up to 12 months of past due rent and up to 3 months of future rent. There is no cap to the amount of assistance you can receive.
You can apply for rental assistance now through your local Community Action Agency.
Contact legal aid. If you are facing eviction, legal aid may be able to help you. To apply for legal aid, look up your local legal aid's contact information here. Apply online or over the phone.
The notice you get depends on why you're being evicted.
You can get evicted from the lot your mobile home sits on for not paying rent. If that’s your situation, you will receive a 3-day notice before your landlord can file an eviction case against you in court.
However, it’s just as common for people to get evicted from a mobile home park for a "material violation" of park rules. A "material violation" of park rules can mean many things. It really depends on your lease and the park’s list of rules. Read over both carefully.
If the eviction is for breaking park rules, the notice depends on if it's your first or second violation:
- If it's your first violation, the park operator must give you a 30-day notice. The notice also has to include a description of the problem, so you know what to fix. If you fix the problem within 30 days the park operator can't evict you.
- If it's your second violation in 6 months, the park operator can give you just a 3-day notice.
Try to fix the problem immediately.
After you receive a notice, you can try to avoid eviction by fixing the problem.
- If you've broken the park rules, fix the problem or source of the violation as soon as possible.
- If you owe rent, do whatever you can to give your landlord the rent you owe them before your 3-day notice is up.
- Try to negotiate with your landlord. Maybe you can work out a payment plan, or a different solution that will work for both of you.
If you can't do any of those, or it seems like that won't be enough to stop the eviction, find a lawyer. You may qualify for legal aid. To find your local legal aid use our "Find Your Legal Aid" tool or go to "Legal Help and Lawyers" on this page.
If you're evicted, you could lose your home.
If you don’t take action, your landlord will likely file an eviction case against you in court and a judge will decide if you must leave or not.
If you end up getting evicted, you will be allowed to move the home that you own, but you must pay the company that will move it. If you can’t afford to move your home, it's possible you may lose your mobile home. You will still be on the hook for any money that you owe on the mobile home.
This is why it's important to try to fix the problem so you don't get evicted in the first place. If your landlord does file for eviction, it's critical to get a lawyer. You may be able to get a legal aid lawyer, who will work with you to try to save your home and the money you've put into it.