Royal Coachman Homeowners, Coop. v. Burns

1

ROYAL COACHMAN HOMEOWNERS, COOPERATIVE, a Washington Corporation, Respondent, v. SHANNON HUNTER BURNS and BRIAN J. MARTLIN, a married couple, ALL OTHER OCCUPANTS AT 133 CATALPA AVE, N.E. #3, #4, and #5, Appellants.

No. 39525-1-III

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3

June 18, 2024

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Fearing, J.

Royal Coachman Homeowners Cooperative brings suit to eject Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin and their mobile home from a mobile home park. Burns' family previously owned the park. After Royal Coachman purchased the mobile home park, Royal Coachmen demanded that Burns and Martlin pay rent to it and sign an occupancy agreement. Until months after Royal Coachman filed suit, Burns and Martlin declined to voluntarily admit a landlord-tenant relationship and denied any obligations to Royal Coachman. We affirm the superior court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Royal Coachman and an order of ejectment.

FACTS

Appellants Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin, wife and husband, resided in a Royal City mobile home park owned by respondent Royal Coachman Homeowners Cooperative (Royal Coachman). Burns' late grandfather, Richard Turner, formed the mobile home park in 1981. In 1993, he quitclaimed the property to Burns' mother, Darla May Turner, who incorporated the property as Royal Coachman Mobile Home Park, LLC (LLC or the limited liability company). Burns first lived within the mobile home park with her grandfather on lot 30, then with her mother on property encompassing lots 3, 4, and 5. After her mother's death in 2014, Burns continued to occupy a mobile home on lot 4 and also continued to use lots 3 and 5. She was the sole beneficiary of her mother's estate.

In 2014, Shannon Burns began operating the mobile home park on behalf of her mother's estate, the Darla May Turner estate. Burns had an unenviable stewardship. Aggrieved tenants sued due to ill treatment. The tenants obtained a consent decree and became creditors of Burns and the LLC. On October 3, 2016, the LLC sought bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, with Burns signing the petition as "'Personal Representative of the Estate of Darla May Turner, Member of Royal Coachman Mobile Home Park LLC.'" Clerk's Papers (CP) at 32. On November 19, 2020, the bankruptcy court authorized the bankruptcy trustee to sell the mobile home park to Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) for $1.6 million. The tenants formed Royal Coachman Cooperative under 24.06 RCW, and NWCDC assigned its purchaser rights to Royal Coachman.

After the bankruptcy trustee sale to Royal Coachman, management of the mobile home park shifted from Shannon Burns to an accounting firm that employed Thelma Trevino as property coordinator. Burns then occupied lots 3, 4, and 5 as if they were a single dwelling unit. Power, water, and sewer connections were available only to lot 4, on which sat a mobile home. A trailer owned by Burns sat on lot 3. Lots 4 and 5 were enclosed by a cyclone fence that surrounded the mobile home occupied by Burns and an appurtenant yard.

The parties disagree as to whether Royal Coachman offered a rental agreement to Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin. Thelma Trevino, on June 16, 2021, wrote Shannon Burns to inform her that she was the new property manager, that Burns needed to remove tools and personal equipment from the mobile home park office before Royal Coachman changed locks on the office, and Burns needed to enter occupancy agreements for lots 3, 4 and 5. Trevino advised that rent was $475.00 per lot. The letter indicated that Trevino enclosed a copy of an occupancy agreement and community rules. Trevino's declaration did not attach any occupancy agreement or rules to the letter.

Shannon Burns averred in her declaration that, after the bankruptcy court approved the sale of the mobile home park, she telephoned the mobile home park manager and asked for a rental agreement so that she could become a member of the homeowners association and continue to live at lot 4. According to Burns, the manager failed to send a rental agreement. Burns avers that she asked the manager a second time for a rental agreement, and the manager failed again to send an agreement.

On June 18, 2021, two days after Thelma Trevino's letter to Shannon Burns, Burns' attorney responded by letter to Trevino. The responding letter read in part:

There seems to be some confusion regarding the office building you refer to and the rental charges for the units you described. Please contact me to discuss the matter before you take any action to change the locks on the building as Ms. Burns has a legal right to occupancy at this time and I find nothing in the file to indicate that she can be excluded from the property at this time.

CP at 242. Presumably Shannon Burns believed she or the estate of her mother continued to own the office building. The letter did not explain the confusion about rent. The letter did not suggest that Thelma Trevino had failed to include an occupancy agreement or community rules in her June 16 letter. Nor did the letter indicate that Burns wished to sign an occupancy agreement of any of lots 3, 4 or 5.

On June 22, 2021, Thelma Trevino replied to Shannon Burns' counsel that NWCDC purchased the office building when purchasing the mobile home park. Trevino wrote about the mobile homes and lots:

It is our understanding that the Estate of Darla Turner is the rightful owner of the mobile homes located in lots 4 and 30 as well as the recreational trailer located in lot 3. As the owner of those homes, it is the responsibility of the Estate to make monthly lot rent payments ($475 per lot) and execute a non-member occupancy agreement (i.e. lease) regardless of occupancy in the homes. These payments and completed agreements can be sent directly to the Royal Coachman Homeowners Cooperative.

CP at 244. The letter read that it enclosed another copy of the nonmember occupancy agreement and of the community rules. The June 22 letter informed Burns that Royal Coachman intended to reestablish lot 5 as a usable rental space.

Shannon Burns never signed an occupancy agreement. She paid no rent.

In July, August, September, and October 2012, Royal Coachman billed the estate of Darla Turner for rent on lot 5. In November 2021, Royal Coachman billed the estate for rent on lot 3. Royal Coachman sent one of the invoices to Shannon Burns, as the executive of the estate, at her Tacoma address. Royal Coachman sent the rest of the invoices to the estate through the care of the estate's and Burns' attorney. Thelma Trevino believes that, after the transfer of ownership, Burns and Brian Martlin moved to Tacoma, although they continued to own and claim to occupy the mobile home on lot 4.

On November 23, 2021, Shannon Burns' attorney wrote to Thelma Trevino at Royal Coachman:

Our office is in receipt of eight invoices from the Royal Coachman Homeowners Cooperative for occupancy of mobile home lots 3, 4 and 5 (enclosed). These invoices are addressed to the Estate of Darla Turner. If these invoices are intended to be claims against the Estate of Darla Turner, they are hereby rejected.

CP at 246.

On February 24, 2022, Royal Coachman served Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin with a three-day notice to vacate. On March 2, 2022, Burns filed a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General under the Manufactured Housing Dispute Resolution Program. Burns alleged Royal Coachman discriminated and retaliated against her.

PROCEDURE

On April 18, 2022, Royal Coachman filed suit against Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin for ejectment of Burns and Martlin from lots 3, 4, and 5. Royal Coachman also sought damages for waste and nuisance. Royal Coachman alleged that Burns and Martlin never reached an agreement to rent the lots in the mobile home park. In reply, Burns and Martlin claimed that Royal Coachman would not let them join the cooperative even though they met the membership qualifications. Burns and Martlin also maintained that Royal Coachman had always treated them as tenants and that they maintained a right of possession to the three lots.

On October 12, 2022, Royal Coachman moved for summary judgment. On October 26, 2022, Royal Coachman sent a separate billing statement to the Estate of Darla Turner for each of lots 3 4, and 5 for rent owed. The statements for each lot claimed that rent was owed of $7,932.49 for the respective lots.

On December 1, 2022, while the summary judgment motion was pending, Shannon Burns' attorney wrote to Royal Coachman's counsel:

My client . . . will sell her mobile home at lot #4 for $50,000 cash. This offer is open until close of business Friday, 5 pm.

Alternatively, please find my trust account check payable to the Plaintiffs in the amount of $8,986.92. This is intended to cover the rent due pursuant to Ms. Trevino's invoice through October 2022 on lot 4. Lot 5 is not a rentable lot and now [sic] rent is due on it. The amount also includes interest at the legal rate to date, $250 for statutory attorney fees and an additional $150 for costs. If the costs are more than that let me know and I will provide you with another check for the difference. My client will sign a rental agreement immediately and comply with all requirements under the lease. She will then proceed to litigate her rights under the Manufactured Mobile Home Landlord Tenant Act. If the check is not in the correct amount let me know right away and I will provide additional funds. This check is tendered pursuant to RCW 7.28.250.

CP at 360.

The following day, on December 2, 2022, the superior court entered an order granting summary judgment on Royal Coachman's ejectment cause of action. CP 273-274. The superior court thereafter denied Shannon Burns and Brian Martlin's motion for reconsideration.

...