Renters win eviction case

Nov 05, 2009 (Mail Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IVPA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Supporters of an Eagle Point woman who has fought rent increases in mobile home parks whooped in the elevator and applauded in front of the courthouse after Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Greif dismissed an eviction case against Monika and John Sayre Wednesday.

Monika Sayre organized a homeowners association to contest rent increases at Butte Crest Park in Eagle Point this year and advocated for rent control at the Legislature during the 2009 session. She and others called the eviction summons that park owner Follett Investment Properties Inc., of Gold River, Calif., filed against her and her husband last week harassment for her activities.

"They think I'm a rabble-rouser," she said with a grin.

Peter Ferris, executive director of Oregon Manufactured Homeowners United, said he had personally experienced eviction attempts for his activism and now saw the same thing happening to the Sayres.

"It is so courageous what she is doing," he said. "The seniors in so many parks want to keep a low profile. She is an inspiration for so many."

More than two dozen supporters from mobile home parks in Eagle Point, Shady Cove, Phoenix, Rogue River and Grants Pass attended Sayre's court appearance Wednesday.

Medford attorney Eric Stark, representing the park owners, filed to dismiss the case. He declined to comment after the judge acted.

Outside the courtroom, Sayre said she had inadvertently underpaid her family's space rent by $5 several months this summer -- submitting checks for $420 rather than the $425 owed under a rent increase enacted in July. Her October payment was late, but her payment included a late fee, she said.

She said the company held her checks for August and October, then claimed she hadn't paid.

She and Ferris said she would seek the return of her uncashed checks, then write a new check for the total amount owed.

Kathie Campbell, Follett's regional manager in Gold River, Calif., said in a phone interview that partial payments received from Sayre were credited to the wrong month, prompting the eviction notice. She denied Sayre's account of the events, but said tenants' right to privacy prevented her from discussing the case.

Campbell said she couldn't respond to the advocates' claims that the eviction might be politically motivated. A new eviction notice will be filed, she said.

Campbell referred questions to a Portland attorney, Amy Barnhouse, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.

"This was mismanaged by the manager from the get-go, but the corporation was willing to evict the Sayres," Ferris said.

He encouraged the gathered park residents to demand receipts so they have a record of each rental payment.

He also asked for their support for a rent-justification bill that would empower park residents to appeal space-rental increases to an arbitrator. Such a program would provide a tool for people to combat steep increases often proposed by out-of-state corporations that own numerous mobile home parks, he explained.

"People aren't looking for a free lunch," said Denny Taylor, who lives in a Shady Cove park with his wife. "We just want fair treatment. This is a human-rights issue, not just property rights."

Rep. Peter Buckley, one of the backers of a rent-control bill that stalled in committee this year, stopped by to congratulate the Sayres and was greeted with applause.

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