Many benefits come with having a mobile home on your parent’s land. From close saving costs to being able to remain close to your parents, there is a lot to enjoy.
However, most people question whether adding a mobile home to their parents’ property is legal and how to go about it. This article answers all the questions that come with the process and provides a step-by-step guide to adding mobile homes on your parents’ property.
What is a Mobile Home?
Usually confused with modular homes, mobile homes are inhabitable structures manufactured and completed in a factory-like setting. These structures are then delivered to the site ready-made. Due to its construction method, a mobile home can be moved from one site to another, as the name implies.
The difference between a mobile home and a regular home is not only limited to the construction method. The licenses and permits you obtain while getting a mobile home also differ from those of a regular home.
While there are some similarities between a mobile home and a modular home, there are also some differences between the two types of inhabitable structures.
For one, mobile homes are registered with the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the same way cars are because of the presence of wheels and hitches that come with them. This is not the same for modular homes registered as buildings.
When a mobile home sits on a parcel of land, it is not classified as a part of that land. The land and other structures are classified as real properties, while the mobile home falls under the personal property category. Thus, if you were to sell the land, the mobile home would not transfer to the new owner of the land the way other structures on the land would.
Understanding the legal relationship between a mobile home and real property helps you realize what you need to do before putting a mobile home on your parent’s property.
Putting a Mobile Home on your Parent’s Property
By putting your mobile home on your parent’s property, you are looking to make the mobile home (a personal property) part of a real property (your parent’s property). While this is possible and completely legal, certain steps are involved in the process. They include:
- Take Permission
The fact that the land is your parent’s property does not make it yours in the eyes of the law. You need to get permission from your parents to put the mobile home on their property. In most cases, you need written approval from them before you can put the mobile home on their property.
Only after you have sought and received their permission can you proceed with the other steps involved in the process.
- Make it Permanent
By virtue of its construction, a mobile home is transportable, all thanks to the wheels, axles, and hitches that come with it. However, if you are to put the mobile home on your parent’s property, the mobile home needs to lose its mobility. This means that the wheels, hitches, and axles need to go and be replaced by a permanent foundation upon which the structure would now stand.
- Make the Necessary Documentations With the DMV
After removing the mobility of the structure, you will need to submit a document to the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This document is the Affidavit for Removal of Manufactured Home from Vehicle Registration Files, abbreviated as DMV Form MVR-46G.
This document serves as proof that the new structure meets the requirements that qualify it as real property and can no longer exist as a vehicle or personal property. The document also means that you are surrendering the certificate of title and now declare the mobile home as a part of the real property on your parent’s property.
Upon submitting this document to the DMV, the agency ensures the cancellation of the certificate of title, removes the title from the list of registered vehicles, and declares the mobile home a real property.
However, it is important to note that if there is an outstanding lien on the mobile home, the DMV will not cancel the certificate of title on it. Instead, you would need written consent from the lienholder to effect the cancellation of the certificate title as per the stipulations of N.C. Gen Stat. & 20-109.2.
- Record with the Register of Deeds
After submitting the affidavit at the DMV, you will also need to record the affidavit at the county’s Register of Deeds. This record upgrades the status of the mobile home to a fixture or improvement on the existing real property.
By recording the affidavit, it becomes public knowledge that your mobile home is now a part of your parent’s real property, as the Register of Deeds is the go-to option for people searching for land records in the county.
Once this is done, the mobile home officially becomes a part of the real property, and all liens on the real property will now affect the mobile home. Also, no liens can be granted on the mobile home without affecting the real property (your parent’s property). Finally, any transfer of ownership on the real property (your parent’s property) now affects your mobile home.
What If the Mobile Home is Untitled?
It is possible that your mobile home is untitled. This happens if you bought the mobile home to place it on your own real property (land) and didn’t try registering it with the DMV. In this case, the mobile home comes with a Certificate of Origin, which is like a birth certificate for the mobile home. However, this certificate is not a title and cannot be treated as such.
If this is the case with your mobile home, your parents, who are the real property owners, would have to obtain and record a document known as the “Declaration of Intent to Affix” with the Register of Deeds in the county where their property exists. This document informs the county of your intention to add your mobile home as a part of their real property.
This document recording makes the mobile home a part of their real property. However, you should know that the document only works when the mobile home has not yet been previously registered with the DMV. If the mobile home has a title, it must be canceled before affixing it to real property.
Conclusion
Adding a mobile home to your parents’ property is possible and completely legal if you follow the required steps. Thankfully, this guide will walk you through the process of putting a mobile home on your parents’ property.