Freyermuth v. Navarre Vil. Homes Austin, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2000)
Freyermuth v. Navarre Vil. Homes Austin, Unpublished Decision (1-24-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
In August of 1995, appellees, Frank and Evelyn Freyermuth, purchased a manufactured home located in Navarre Village near Navarre, Ohio. Said village is owned by appellant, Navarre Village Homes Austin Square, Inc. When appellees purchased the manufactured home, they were informed of a rule that prohibited units older than twelve years to remain in the village without written consent of the management. In May of 1997, appellees decided to sell their manufactured home. At this time, the manufactured home was nineteen years old. Appellant did not object to the sale, but asked appellees to remove the manufactured home pursuant to the "twelve year" rule. On June 18, 1998, appellees filed a complaint to have the twelve year rule declared unenforceable. A bench trial commenced on March 22, 1999. By judgment entry filed May 20, 1999, the trial court ruled in favor of appellees, finding the twelve year rule was unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and contrary to R.C.I THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO ALLOW ENFORCEMENT OF THE WRITTEN AGREEMENT OF JULY 24, 1995 (PRIOR TO MR. FREYERMUTH'S PURCHASE OF THE MOBILE HOME IN QUESTION) BETWEEN MR. FREYERMUTH AND THE MOBILE HOME PARK.
II THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO ALLOW ENFORCEMENT OF THE MOBILE HOME PARK RULE WHICH PROVIDES THAT A MOBILE HOME OLDER THAN 12 YEARS MAY REMAIN IN THE PARK ONLY WITH THE PARK'S CONSENT.
(C) A park operator shall promulgate rules governing the rental or occupancy of a lot in the manufactured home park. The rules shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious. A copy of the rules and any amendments to them shall be delivered by the park operator to the tenant or owner prior to signing the rental agreement. A copy of the rules and any amendments to them shall be posted in a conspicuous place upon the manufactured home park grounds.
The rule at issue states "[u]nits older than twelve years may not remain in Navarre Village without the written consent of the Management." See, Rule 1.5 in the Navarre Village Rule and Regulations, attached to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment as Exhibit 5. Appellant argues that under Friendly Village v. Duty (1992),
(1) Deny any owner the right to sell the owner's manufactured home within the manufactured home park if the owner gives the park operator ten days' notice of the intention to sell the home;
(2) Require the owner to remove the home from the manufactured home park solely on the basis of the sale of the home;
Upon review, we find the facts sub judice justify a finding that the enforcement of the rule was based on the proposed sale and was therefore a violation of the above statute. Assignments of Error I and II are denied.
The judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County, Ohio is hereby affirmed.
By FARMER, J., WISE, P.J. and EDWARDS, J., concur.
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