If you are living in a manufactured home and stop making loan payments, your home can be repossessed or you may be forced into foreclosure. There are specific laws that apply to the purchase and loan payments of mobile homes, manufactured homes and modular homes.
Mobile home units are HUD certified homes that are structurally complete when they leave factory. These homes are transported in one or more sections and are placed in a mobile home park or wherever the buyer chooses to live. The manufactured homes are typically constructed on a permanent chassis with a tongue, axels and wheels for transport, this way, the home can be moved from place to place.
Modular homes are constructed to the same state, local or regional building codes as site built homes are, and are transported on truck beds to their destination. These modular homes are then connected together by local contractors. Typically, a person will buy the modular home in modular home park.
Manufactured homes are considered personal property in most states, and parties convey ownership if their home by a certificate of title with security interests noted on the title. Some states don't recognize a certificate of title, which means that the security interest in a manufactured home will be made through a UCC filing. Most manufactured home owners can take steps to change the classification of their home from personal property to real property if they would like to do so.
To classify as real property, a manufactured home must be affixed to the land. In some states, the owner of the home must also own the land that the home is on in order to classify it as real property. Other states will allow a person to convert their manufactured home into real property if they are leasing the land that it is on.
Most of the time the tongue, axles and wheels must be removed from a mobile home to make it real property. Tie downs must be installed, and the home must be permanently attached to the land. The homeowner is required to surrender the certificate of title to the appropriate revenue commission and take whatever steps that the particular state requires to have a manufactured home assessed as real estate.
If a borrower has a manufactured home and defaults on a loan with the home, the credit has the right to take the home away. The credit will need to identify if the home is classified as personal or real property. When the home is still considered personal property, the creditor can simply repossess the home for default payments. If the home is real property, then the creditor will have to go through the foreclosure process.
If repossession is possible, creditors can use the judicial process called replevin to get their home back. The creditor will file a lawsuit in court and ask the court to grant an order for repossession in these cases. In self-help repossession cases, the creditor will retake possession without the use of the judicial process. Oftentimes this is complicated with mobile homes because it is almost impossible to repossess the house without breaching the peace.
If the home is real property, a legal foreclosure is necessary. The lender is required to adhere to state foreclosure procedures to terminate the use of the home. If you want more information about the legalities of real estate law regarding manufactured homes, then contact a local real estate firm today. With the right attorney on your side, you can learn about your rights as a mobile home or manufactured home owner and determine whether your house is real property or personal property.