Whether you use a standard on-site manager or a reduced duty greeter at your mobile home park, you may want to investigate the use of having the mail sent in off-site. The benefits to such a system are many, and the problems few. Many main-stream operators have embraced just this one piece of off-site management, due to its enormous benefits.
It ends embezzlement at the park level
Stories of managers embezzling rent are among the most common in the park business. I once bought a park from an owner that thought his park had no income - at least that's what the manager told him. He was shocked when we found an account with a balance of $35,000 in it that represented just the most recent rents that the manager had shifted into her name.
When the manager no longer collects rent, the ability to embezzle is eliminated. That is not to say that a manager cannot still impose and embezzle such things as pet deposits, etc., but the magnitude of the crime is reduced 1,000%.
It ends the mystery concerning evictions and late rents
Have you had a manager who can never give you the straight scoop on evictions? There are always a couple lots that never seem to go to court for some reason. Normally, these are just friends or family members of the manager - or people who have threatened them. When you are the creator of the collections list, you gain the upper hand in the truth on who is paying, and can make sure that all the correct demands are delivered and evictions filed. Nobody can hide then.
It perfects the assessment of late fees
By using the postmark on the envelope as evidence of the rent being late, it allows you to end any mystery on who to assess the late fees to. And you will be amazed at how many more late fees you have - the manager normally hides many of these late rents from you to shield her friends.
It makes you in control of the rent
This is the most important thing that collecting rent off-site can do for you. It makes you in control of the park's revenue. Many managers use the park rent as a weapon against you in their pursuit of keeping their job. They will threaten to end the regular collection of rent if you let them go and, in fear of missing your note payment, you keep them on.
In addition, when you let a manager go, their first attack is to disrupt the flow of rent, by misinforming tenants as to what to do with their rent - or even collecting it themselves and keeping it in revenge.
When you get the rent direct, the manager has no power over you. And that's a great feeling
Conclusion
Having rent sent in to an off-site P.O. Box is not hard. It costs about $100 per year for the box. What is your peace of mind worth?
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