MEET OUR ATTORNEYS
Experienced, Competent, and Trustworthy.
Ferd E. Niemann IV, Founding Partner
Ferd Niemann is a mobile home park owner, operator, and lawyer, as well as a real estate investor, financial analyst, entrepreneur, and attorney whose career has focused on a myriad of areas of real estate. His experience includes mobile home park investments and turnarounds, retail development and redevelopment, residential investments, and real estate law. In addition to his investments as an operator, Ferd has invested in storage, apartments, restaurants, medical startups, and a handful of other ventures.
Before starting his own firm – The MHP Law Firm – Ferd practiced law at a top Kansas City firm focusing on economic development incentives, public finance, property tax assessments, redevelopment, land use, and zoning. Ferd was also the associate editor for Missouri Land Use Law & Practice and Missouri Economic Development Law, the foremost treatises in the fields. Prior to law school at UMKC, Ferd graduated from Rockhurst University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA. For over five years Ferd served his community while working at Jackson County in a variety of positions in the Administration, Government Relations, Economic Development, and Assessment Departments. Through his experience analyzing deals and sitting on Tax Increment Financing Commissions, Ferd has developed a critical eye for solving problems and navigating government processes. Serving as Jackson County’s Director of Assessment gave him greater insights into the valuation of personal and real property, as well as handling property tax appeals. His various positions at Jackson County honed Ferd’s skills in analysis, project and people management, and putting deals together.
Ferd is adept in finance and has successfully modeled numerous business plans; and, more importantly, implemented the plans. He has received national recognition as a high quality MHP operator and a thought leader in the industry. Today, in addition to his own portfolio, Ferd has helped over 100 MHP owners with their projects.
Ferd grew up in Quincy, IL and moved to Kansas City to attend Rockhurst University to pursue his education and play college baseball. Ferd enjoys chasing deals, problem solving for clients, reading great books, politics, involvement in his Catholic men’s group, and spending time with his wife Angela and their children Anthony (7), Margaret (6), and Monica (4).
Areas of Practice
Business Consulting
Economic Development & Incentives
Land Use & Zoning
Mobile/Manufactured Home Parks
Real Estate Development & Redevelopment
Real Estate Syndications
Real Estate Tax
Awards, Activities, & Civic Involvement
Band of Brothers Men’s Ministry – leader/president
Big Brothers Big Sisters – Big Brother
Catholic Challenge Sports – numerous leadership roles including former Board Member
Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) – Kansas City Chapter Board Member; CCIM Designee
FINRA Series 6/63 Licenses (inactive)
Ingram’s 40 Under Forty Selection – Class of 2017
Jackson County Government – Assessor (County Appraiser); Director of Economic Development; Deputy Director Government Affairs; numerous boards and (TIF) commissions
JAG Corps – Civil Service (2L Internship)
Knights of Columbus – Third Degree Knight; numerous leadership positions
Real Estate Broker (Missouri)
Urban Land Institute – former board member
Pi Kappa Alpha- numerous leadership positions
Rockhurst University KC Alumni Advisory Council
Publications & Speaking
CCIM Ward Center Instructor
Co-Editor of Missouri Land Use Law and Missouri Economic Development Law
Published Content:
Missouri Association of Counties
KC Star
KC Business Journal
MH Insider
CIRE Magazine
Various speaking engagements: Conferences, Panelist, University Lecturer, CLEs, Podcast (host of The Mobile Home Park Lawyer Podcast)
Bar Admissions
- Missouri
- Kansas (Inactive)
- Colorado (Inactive)
Education
- UMKC School of Law, Juris Doctor
- Rockhurst University, MBA
- Rockhurst University, BSBA
Contact
- Ferd E. Niemann IV
- Ferd@TheMHPLawFirm.com
- Podcast: www.themobilehomelawyer.com
Jonathan Gilmore, Managing Partner
Jonathan is a real estate transactional attorney with over 12 years of experience, who is highly skilled in managing transactions involving land and buildings of every type and nature. Jonathan currently specializes in helping clients buy, sell, lease, finance, and raise capital for real estate deals in the homebuilding, multi-family, manufactured housing and commercial real estate sectors.
A licensed and practicing attorney since 2009, Jonathan began his career advising and managing real estate matters for estates and trusts, as well as preparing fiduciary accounting and tax returns for high net worth estates. As the economy rebounded from the great recession, he began to focus his practice on raw land, multi-family, and commercial real estate transactions, which included securing collateral and managing land and business assets for private money lenders. In 2016, Jonathan served as an asset advisor on a legal team that a settled a heavily litigated suit with the Federal Trade Commission saving the client over $20,000,000.
Prior to joining the Kansas City Real Estate Law team, Jonathan served as in-house real estate counsel for M.D.C. Holdings, Inc., a NYSE publicly traded company and the 12th largest homebuilder in the United States. At M.D.C., he managed more than $100,000,000 of land assets across the country at any given time, which also included structuring and negotiating contracts and closings for 50 plus deals annually.
A dean’s list student at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law, Jonathan focused his studies on courses and clinics which would complement his current practice including the Kansas City Tax Clinic, the Entrepreneurial Legal Services Clinic and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Prior to law school and while obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, Jonathan served as an enlisted paralegal in the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General Corps, where he assisted JAG attorneys with administrative hearings and preparing legal documentation for deploying troops. Jonathan’s paralegal and attorney experience combine for a total of 18 years of in the legal industry.
Jonathan lives in Shawnee, Kansas with his wife and two amazing daughters, and he is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys all things related to archery, fishing, and hiking.
Areas of Practice
Real Estate Development
Multi-Family Real Estate
Mobile/Manufactured Home Parks
RV Parks/Campgrounds
Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges
Syndications
Mergers & Acquisitions
Contracts
Title & Survey Review
Bar Admissions
- U.S. Tax Court
- Missouri
- Kansas
Education
- UMKC School of Law, Juris Doctor
- University of Kansas, BA
Contact
- Jonathan E. Gilmore
- jonathan@kcrelaw.com
Douglas Raney, Senior Associate
Douglas Raney is a real estate attorney and developer with over a decade of experience structuring and managing deals. Douglas has drafted, negotiated, and analyzed all sorts of legal documents, including purchase agreements, loan documents, commercial leases, operating agreements, and easements. Douglas and his partnerships have bought and sold millions of dollars’ worth of real estate assets, and he uses this background to advise clients how to structure contracts and partnerships in the most beneficial manner possible while anticipating and avoiding conflict before it arises to prevent the need for costly litigation.
While in law school, Douglas financed his education by moonlighting with middle to high stakes poker, fully paying off his student loans within four months of graduation. In addition to being a regular at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Douglas enjoys travel, tennis, and walking his two dogs with his fiancée, with whom he lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
Areas of Practice
Real Estate Development
Multi-Family Real Estate
Mobile/Manufactured Home Parks
RV Parks/Campgrounds
Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges
Syndications
Mergers & Acquisitions
Bar Admissions
- Missouri
- Kansas
- Texas
- Licensed Kansas Real Estate Broker
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, Juris Doctor
- University of Notre Dame, BS
Contact
- Douglas Raney
- Douglas@TheMHPLawFirm.com
Hunter Woodhart, Associate
My name is Hunter Woodhart and I am a first year associate attorney with the MHP Law Firm LLC, practicing in real estate law. I graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in May 2021 with two legal certificates, Business and Commercial Law and International Trade and Finance. Before attending Law School, I graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. (History), and graduated as a member of the LEAD Program [Legal Educated Accelerated Degree]. When I am not working, I enjoy hiking in the mountains, gardening, and playing video games.
Areas of Practice
Real Estate Law
Contracts
Lease Review and Drafting
Zoning & Land Use
Title & Survey Review
Real Estate Syndications
Awards, Activities, & Civic Involvement
Former Treasurer of Federal Bar Association (KU Law)
Business Law & Commercial Law Certifications (KU Law)
International Trade & Finance Certification (KU Law)
Bar Admissions
- Missouri
- Kansas (Inactive)
Education
- University of Kansas School of Law, Juris Doctor
- University of Kansas, BA
Contact
- Hunter Woodhart
- hunter@TheMHPLawFirm.com
Jay Heck, Of Counsel
Jay Heck is a real estate lawyer, broker, educator and investor. His experience representing landlords, tenants, purchasers and sellers spans across five decades. He has been the legal negotiator on approximately ten thousand separate transactions, with approximately two billion dollars in transaction volume, of nearly every conceivable real estate transaction type.
Prior to joining the firm, Jay was a real estate lawyer for three of the largest NYSE-traded companies, with headquarters located in the Kansas City metropolitan area and for two shopping center developer/operators with multi-state portfolios. In 2019, he negotiated the legal aspects of two 1,000,000+ square foot office leases, believed to be the two largest-ever office space leases, in either Kansas or Missouri.
Jay is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1994) and the University of Central Missouri (Bachelor of Science, 1988).
In his non-office hours, Jay enjoys working on home improvements, lawn and gardening projects and his two vintage automobiles.
Areas of Practice
Purchase and Sale Agreements
Title and Survey Review
Leasing- Office, Retail and Industrial
Subleasing
Ground Leasing
Landlord- Tenant Disputes
Easements
Bar Admissions
- Missouri
- Kansas
Education
- UMKC School of Law, Juris Doctor
- University of Central Missouri (Bachelor of Science)
Contact
- Jay Heck
- jay@themhplawfirm.com
Address:
The MHP Law Firm
PO Box 901612
Kansas City, MO 64190
Email: info@themhplawfirm.com
Phone: (833) 647-5997
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