Titling

Another important requirement for qualifying for a loan is to make sure that your home is secured by real property, meaning that the land and home are considered one unitized package. Most people assume it is that way, but manufactured housing is unique. It is the only form of housing where a home can be titled either as personal property or chattel (like a car) or titled as real property. Unfortunately, titling for manufactured homes is complicated by a lack of Federal standards. Individual states, therefore, have devised their own unique laws and have created diverse approaches to titling.

In some states in order to recognize the home as real property there is a procedure of surrendering the certificate of title when the manufactured home is permanently affixed to the land. States that take this approach include Arizona and Florida, where the law provides for issuance of a certificate of title to a manufactured home, and then for surrender and cancellation of the certificate when the home is affixed to land and the appropriate documents are filed.

Although specific procedures for surrender of the certificate of title differ from state to state, the majority of states permit manufactured housing to become real property through surrender of the certificate of title.

Statutory, regulatory, or judicial authority for recognizing a manufactured home as part of the real property, without surrender of the certificate of title. In Mississippi, for example, a manufactured home that is affixed to land under specified circumstances will become part of the real property, but the certificate of title remains outstanding.

Many of the states that permit manufactured homes to be treated as real estate without first being titled as personal property also have procedures for issuing a certificate of title and then surrendering it. In California, for example, a manufactured home can become real property upon attachment to the land if it conforms with building jurisdictional requirements.

This is a complicated issue and we can help you determine the titling to make sure your home and land are considered a package deal!

For a complete list of titling requirements prepared by FNMA, go to https://www.efanniemae.com/