Code of Ethics for Mobilehome Advocates

Reprinted with permission from the Coalition of Mobilehome Owners – California

CoMO-CAL feels that all advocates should adopt a “Code of Ethics.” We, along with the state group in Wisconsin, have written a preliminary “Code.” Today, CoMO-CAL lives by this code.
We would hope other groups do so as well.

Unfortunately this is not always the case. What do you think? If you think all advocates should adopt this code or something similar, please be active in your group of choice. Make your voice heard. Don’t just accept the status quo. After all, advocates are supposed to be working for you!

We, as advocates, agree to:

• Focus on serving our membership and promoting their general welfare
• Provide prospective members a list of our services and the benefits of joining
• Be honest with our members
• Be transparent, i.e. freely share information about our organization: assets and finances
• Be open to member’s suggestions, comments, and criticism
• Respond to members, either verbally or in writing
• Run our organization according to our bylaws and purpose
• When asked a question, we agree to give members all information available to us, i.e. what we can do to help them as well as other advocacy groups (if we know) by a member

We will not:

• Cause harm to those we serve, i.e. homeowners
• Withhold information from our members to promote only ourselves, i.e. homeowners need to know about all advocates who serve them.
• “Stonewall” members or refuse to listen to members in an open discussion

Additionally, we feel advocates should network with each other. This means freely sharing information while giving proper credit for information from other advocates. We realize we have similar issues and it is imperative to work together to provide a united front, even though we are different organizations.

For more information about CoMO-CAL, please visit www.comocal.org.