Chapter 14 of 20
Title and ownership considerations
The paperwork that most often derails a manufactured-home sale, and how to get ahead of it.
1 min read
Title problems are the leading cause of manufactured-home sales falling apart, and they are almost always discoverable early. Verify the ownership documents before you pay for an inspection, not after.
A home held as personal property has a certificate of title, issued much like a vehicle title, naming the owner and any lienholder. A home converted to real property will instead appear in the land records with the deed. Establish which situation you are in at the outset, because it determines everything about how ownership transfers.
The specific problems to look for: a multi-section home should have a title for each section, and one is often missing. A lien from a loan that was paid off years ago may never have been formally discharged. The name on the title may not match the person selling, an inherited home where the estate was never settled is a common and time-consuming version of this. And a home that was physically converted to real property may never have had its title properly surrendered, leaving it ambiguously both.
None of these are necessarily fatal, but all of them take time. Replacing a lost title, discharging a stale lien, or resolving an estate can take weeks or months, and the process differs in every state. Raise them early and let the clock run in parallel with everything else.
Key points
- Verify title before spending money on an inspection.
- A double-wide should have two titles, one per section.
- Undischarged old liens and name mismatches are common and slow to fix.
- A home converted to real property should no longer have an active title.
Watch out
An inherited home where the estate was never formally settled cannot be sold cleanly until it is. If the seller inherited the home, ask specifically how ownership was transferred to them.
Questions to ask
- May I see the title for each section?
- Are there any liens recorded, including ones already paid off?
- Does the name on the title match the seller exactly?
- Has this home ever been converted to real property?