We are here to help take the headache out of dealing with Mobile Homes by handling
Title Research
You must do a separate mobile home title search in order to discover the condition of the mobile home title and to make sure that you are dealing with the correct home. They are called “mobile homes” because they are mobile! People move them. They buy and sell them without doing the title work. Some mobile home errors can cost you thousands of dollars. Don’t get caught.
It is crucial that you know the condition of the mobile home title prior to closing. Why? For the same exact reason that you do a land title search – you’re going to insure it! Remember, you are actually dealing with two different kinds of titles (land & home), and they’re separate! We are constantly asked how a lien can show up against a mobile home that didn’t show up in the land title search. The answer is – the mobile home title and the land title are separate! Title companies often tell us they’re sure the mobile home title is in the seller’s name because the land title shows up in the seller’s name. Don’t assume that. Half the time it’s not. Believe it, or not, it might not even be the right mobile home.
Title Companies
If you are a Title Company, the mobile home title may have never been transferred into your seller’s name and still be in the name of the third owner back, or in the deceased mother’s name, or in the name of the bank that foreclosed it six years ago, or in the ex-husband’s name who is now in jail. There may be a personal property loan against the home, with a payoff separate from the mortgage. That loan payoff will never show up in your land title search because it is not recorded in the courthouse. There may be real property issues, sales tax, or back mobile home taxes due. Your seller may be an investor or a bank that owns multiple mobile home properties. They can bring in the wrong titles for you to transfer (HUD is notorious for this). You would never know. You assume the seller knows what he is selling. And so on…
Foreclosure Attorneys
If you are a Foreclosure Attorney, you must get the right mobile home correctly foreclosed with the land. There are many scenarios that may make this challenging. For example, a defendant may have replaced an older mobile home with a newer one. A previous title company may have left all reference to the new home off the new mortgage, and you foreclose the old home that was on the property when it was originally deeded because that deed included the original mobile home in the legal. Or perhaps you cannot locate mobile home ID numbers to include in your foreclosure docs. So you foreclose the land only, and then have to amend the foreclosure or re-foreclose the property. It’s expensive to re-foreclose, and many judges won’t allow you to amend after a certain point. If you had just gotten it right the first time…
We provide you with complete, accurate, and current mobile home information so you can get it right.
Title Clearing & Transfer
Mobile Home Title Service specializes in clearing up title issues such as old liens, previous owners on title, deaths, divorces, foreclosures, repossessions, and so on. Our standard service includes obtaining, and transferring the mobile home titles for your mobile home deals. Because of our extensive knowledge and contacts, we are able to solve and complete 99% of all the transactions that we receive.
Title Retiring
As a result of heavy lobbying by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, & Freddie Mac, in 2003 the Governor signed into law a statute that allows the retiring of mobile home titles (see FL Statutes 319.261). There has been much confusion and misinformation regarding this law. We will give a brief synopsis of its implications, and some cautions for you to be aware of.
The important changes in the latest version of the law include the following: 1) MSOs (MCOs) can no longer be retired, but must be titled first, 2) the mobile home and land must be in the same names and home permanently affixed to the land before the mobile home title can be retired 3) all mobile homes must have valid RP stickers before they can be retired.
Most counties want to see that the mobile home is included in the legal description on a deed where the land and home have been sold together as a package. Also, the mobile home must be titled and RP’d into the person’s name who owns the land before it can be retired.
Contrary to a common misconception, retiring a title is not automatic. The law authorizes retiring titles, but does not require it. It is strictly voluntary for the property owner. However, many lenders are now requiring that the titles be retired because Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the major players in the secondary market, want them retired. If you are processing a Fannie or Freddie backed loan, check your lender’s instructions closely to see what the lender wants done. Ask the loan underwriter, specifically, if they want the title “retired”. If the instructions indicate that the home must be “real property”, a simple RP sticker will satisfy that requirement. Retiring the title takes things a step further, but according to Florida law, a mobile home with valid RP stickers is every bit as much “Real Property” as the home with a retired title.
The property owner must evidence their agreement to retire their titles by signing the necessary affidavits, and applications. Currently there is no DMV charge for retiring titles, however there are costs involved. These costs include document recording fees, purchasing Court certified copies of the recorded documents, FedEx or mailing fees, and time dealing with the Courthouse, Property Appraiser, and the DMV. Once again, the retire title process can only take place after the mobile home and land are properly titled into the same names, the home is permanently affixed to the land, and the home is legally declared real property with valid RP stickers issued. Therefore you must allow for title transfer fees and RP costs as well as the title retiring costs.
Mobile Home Title Service can provide retire title services in conjunction with the closing, or separately. It is always more cost effective for us to retire the titles along with a closing because it saves some duplication of work.
We have retired mobile home titles for Title Companies, Lenders, Attorneys, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, First American, Stewart, Fidelity National, and many others. We can handle it for your company, too.
