February 2024 ยป thefivestar.com
39
February 2024
F E A T U R E S T O R Y
to the property for at least 15 years. The
State requires evidence of either the date
of physical affixture to the property or
the date the mobile home was added to
the tax roll for the parcel. Because county
treasurers are often unable to provide this
evidence, this workaround method is not
always available.
The final method is to pursue a court
order declaring that the lender is the
rightful owner of the mobile home and
order that the Secretary of State must
issue title in the lender's name. This
method will require additional time and
be more costly but may be necessary in
cases where the prior owner is unavail-
able or uncooperative, where there is an
unreleased third-party secured lien on
the title, or where there are any other
outstanding title issues.
In lieu of affixing, the lender always
has the option of selling the land at REO
on an "as-is" basis, with the understand-
ing that the new purchaser will have to
address the mobile home affixture issues
themselves. Many underwriters will take
exception to these issues in their title pol-
icies, which may mean that a purchaser
struggles to obtain traditional financing.
However, selling as-is may still be a good
option for certain low value properties
where the lender does not want to take
on the cost of litigation.
Unfortunately, the affixture process
may sometimes be an arduous task. But
if all parties from the lenders down to the
REO agents have a baseline understand-
ing of what manufactured home title
entails, what information is needed, and
how affixture can be attained, this will
help to achieve the best outcomes and
timelines for all involved.
