Western Park Village residents speak out about notices of termination of leases
Apr. 27—JAMESTOWN — Liechty Homes management has issued 30-day notices of termination of leases to less than 2% of the 225 families in Jamestown that the business serves, according to Lorne Liechty, CEO of the business.
Liechty said the 225 families are at Holiday Park Village and Western Park Village that Liechty Homes owns.
"I want to make sure that it's understood that we are not just going about with evictions," said Kathy Grosz, director of property management for Liechty Homes. "We are not giving everyone evictions. That's like a last resort for us."
She said examples of why a notice of termination would be issued include nonpayment of lot rent and failing to maintain the land according to the lease. She also said another example includes any type of interaction where the company is having with the tenant that could lead to an unsafe situation for the tenant or employees.
She said the notice of lease terminations is "a matter of violations that have not been corrected over considerable time" of attempting to work with the homeowners."
Any instance of a termination notice that we've provided, we have arrived there after multiple outreach, multiple interactions, multiple reasons ... ," Liechty said.
Aaron Roehrich, a resident at Western Park Village, was served a 30-day notice of termination of lease due to "non-renewal of lease." The notice says the manufactured home was supposed to be removed on or before April 18.
"The site must be clean, and all personal property removed including decks, storage units, steps, rubbish and debris," the notice says. "Also utilities should be notified and terminated on or before April 18th, 2024."
Roehrich said he purchased his home two years ago. He said the home was a "condemnable place" when he purchased it.
Roehrich's father, Michael, said it was impossible to move the mobile home in 30 days. He said the ground is soft and the his son has to find a place to put the mobile home.
"Chances are it's not going to survive being moved," he said.
He said Aaron turned his first home into a comfortable living place.
"It's all his own blood, sweat and tears into this place," he said. "This was something he's proud of."
Aaron said when he first bought the place, he used a tarp held down with bricks over his entryway because it leaked water. The next day, he said management told him to remove the tarp and the bricks from his home. He said he left the tarp up until he tinned the roof but left the bricks on the roof.
"They complained about that again and I did take them down," he said.
He said he had a vehicle parked on a lot next to his trailer that wasn't his. He said they told him he couldn't park there and he moved the vehicle.
"That was the first instance," he said. "That's reasonable. I'm not perfect. ... I worked with them."
Aaron said the next issue was about a vehicle he had purchased and owned for about two weeks that was on his driveway. He said he was told by management that the vehicle needs license plates.
"It (the lease) doesn't mention that the vehicle needs to be registered and have plates to sit on my driveway," he said. He added that the vehicle was towed out of the driveway two weeks later.
Aaron said the next issue was about a metal sign that is pro Second Amendment that he received from his mother as a housewarming gift. He said the sign was nailed up next to his entryway for the entire time until about a month ago.
"I get a message saying, 'You need to please remove your sign,'" he said.
He said he thought the sign was fine because of his right to free speech. He said he was told by management that the sign could promote threatening or unlawful activities.
Cindy Thompson, a resident at Western Park Village, said she was served a 30-day notice of termination of lease in September 2022 for violation of rules No. 11 of the rental agreement pertaining to the care of the site being the resident's responsibility.
"Entire space must be kept clean and free from storage of cans, bottles, boxes and equipment from around the front, sides, and back of homes," the notice says. "Vehicles or items are not permitted on lawn area, summer or winter."
The notice also says the home must be removed two months from the date, although it says for November 2020.
Thompson said that incident was for a motorcycle she inherited after her brother's death that was in her backyard. She also said Liechty Homes management came after her fence and pool that she had permission to put up.
She said she removed the motorcycle from her yard and put the fence up.
Thompson said she was served a warning for a notice of a lease violation twice in February and again in March. The notice said to fix the fence, remove the pool and clean the lot.
She also received a 30-day notice of termination on March 13 for violation of rules pertaining to the care of the site being the resident's responsibility.
Since then, Thompson said a complaint has been filed for a forced eviction by Liechty Homes against her, Aaron Roehrich and her neighbor.
Grosz said the issuing of notices of termination of lease pertaining to the care of the site are situations management has dealt with over a long period of time.
"This isn't like a notice that has just been handed out and we are evicting someone," she said. " ... We tried to work with the tenants to resolve the issues so we wouldn't have to come to this point."
Grosz said in an email that homeowners facing a lease termination or eviction can sell, move or leave the home to be demolished at no cost.
"If an evicted tenant owes back rent then the home is repossessed by the property owner, but ND state law requires that the subsequent sale must be a recovery of the debt only and no profit can be made," she said in an email. "Any surplus in the sale must be returned to the homeowner/tenant. In some cases when there is no rent collection issue, we (or the property owner) might also make an offer to purchase the home from the tenant as well, but that is on a case-by-case basis and highly dependent on the condition of the home in question."
