Retirement of a Manufactured Home

Florida State Law requires that every time a vehicle, manufactured/mobile home, or a vessel changes names, the seller has 30 days to provide clear title to the buyer.The Buyer has to transfer title into their name within that same 30 day period. The cost to transfer title only is $75.75 (per title) This includes any time a name is added or removed from the title. Death, divorce, marriage, emancipation, trust, sale, name change, and the list goes on. Failure to transfer title within 30 days constitutes a $25 dollar slap on the wrist.


The fun part is that if you have a double wide home, double the price, for a triple wide home guess what… That’s right, triple the price.

Unlike a vehicle or vessel (where you can apply for a duplicate title and transfer title at the same time) with a mobile home you have to have the original title beforehand. This means that if you sell your home and have misplaced the title you will have to first get a duplicate title to hand over to the buyer. The Buyer then has to go and have it transferred to his name. As you can see this can be a hassle and the expense.

In 2004 our legislators (under heavy lobbying) ratified a process in which a mobile home on private land can be recorded in the official records of the county whereby the home transfers with the deed to the property. This process is called Retirement of a mobile home.

Pros: No titles to keep track of, No duplicates/transfers to pay for, It does not affect your property taxes, no annual decals to purchase, no lenders to chase down when you pay off the loan.

Cons: Reinstatement can be a little time consuming.

An individual or entity who own both the mobile home and the property it installed on have the option of changing from a DMV issued title to a warranty deed. This is called “retiring the title”. Once the title is retired and the deed issued, future transfers will be via deeds instead of the old application for Florida title.



GENERAL INFORMATION:



The certificate of title for the mobile home must be in the name of the owner of the real property before the certificate of title can be retired. This means that when a customer purchases a new or used mobile home (that is titled in Florida and permanently affixed to real property) with the intention of retiring the mobile home title, it IS necessary to obtain a title and registration in their name prior to retiring the title.



MUST LIST:

The home MUST be in the same name as the property.

The property MUST be in the same name at the home.

The home MUST be identified as Real Property by the county Property Appraiser AND the DMV with a Real Property Declaration issued and a Real Property Decal issued.

An Affidavit MUST be recorded including both the legal description of the home and the property with the original titles attached in the official records of the clerk of court in the county in which the real property is resides.



A mobile home whose title has been retired pursuant to s. 319.261, Florida Statutes, and has not been re-instated, shall be conveyed by deed or real estate contract and shall be transferred together with the property to which it is affixed.



If the title has been retired pursuant to s. 319.261, Florida Statutes, for purposes of perfecting, realizing, and foreclosure of security interests, a separate security interest in the mobile home shall not exist, and the mobile home shall only be secured as part of the real property through a mortgage or deed of trust.

Things to consider:
1. Mobile homes located in rental parks cannot be retired
2. Park Model Trailers cannot be retired (Body Type: PT)
4. Owner of the home and land MUST BE the same person/s
5. Mobile home MUST be registered as “Real Property”
6. Mobile home title must be reinstated to remove it from the property.

PROVISIONS OF LAW:
Section 319.261, Florida Statutes, provides a process by which the owner of a mobile home which is permanently affixed to real property owned by that same person may permanently retire the title to the mobile home. For purposes of this section, the term "real property owned by that same person" shall include any tenancy of a recorded leasehold interest in the real property for a term of 30 years or more.

What is a Modular Home?

Modular homes—are designed, built, permitted and inspected to the Florida Building Code (FBC), and must be installed on permanent foundations (e.g., poured footers, stem walls & poured piers or engineered slabs, just like site built homes) that are designed and built specifically for that home by a contractor licensed by the Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR). It is a violation of Florida Statutes for a mobile home installer to install a modular home. To be acceptable in Florida, a modular home must bear the insignia of the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) on the inside of the cover of the home's electrical panel. They are considered real property when


installed on a permanent foundation, and insured as such.

NOTE: A few modular manufacturers continue to produce their homes on a mobile home type chassis (called "on-frame" construction, which is allowed in the FBC) and transport them on wheels and axles just like mobile homes; as opposed to most who construct [without the chassis] on typical floor joist type construction and transport the modules on a flat bed trailer, lifting them into place onsite with a crane. No matter the method of construction, the modular home must be installed by a licensed contractor on a permanent foundation, as specified in chapter 428.4 FBC.

What is a Manufactured Home?

A Manufactured Home is a single or multi-section residential structure built in a factory to strict federal standards under the supervision of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Manufactured Housing Division.

Key characteristics are:

• Factory Built
• Built to Federal Standards (not local building codes)
• Built on a steel Integral chassis (frame)
• Transported to the installation site by a tow vehicle.

Normal installation includes

• Application for permits through the county building department
• Raising and leveling using dry stacked concrete block
• Installation of high wind anchors (hurricane straps, "tie downs")
• Removal of Axles, Wheels, and Hitch
• Installation of Air conditioning Equipment 
• Connection to local utilities including electric, gas, water, septic, telephone, and cable
• Installation skirting around base of structure

The State of Florida considered manufactured homes vehicles and requires then to be tagged and titled as such.
A tag and title is required for each section of the structure.