Can I Sell My Mobile Home Without a Title?

Let me say up front, mobile homes are not my favorite real estate to auction or list. I live in a rural area where there are a lot of mobile homes in our county and we get our fair share of these calls. The ones we do accept are primary a “widow and orphan” situation where we are trying to help the seller in a hard situation.

One of the difficulties is explaining to the seller what the true value of the mobile home really is, which in most cases, is way below what they paid for it several years ago. While the land it is sitting on may increase in value, the mobile home itself in most cases depreciates in value.

There are exceptions where nice mobile homes have been placed in or near a lake area, like in my area Lake Gaston or Kerr Lake, and improvements to the home have been made over the years. But you just can’t move a junky mobile home to a lake area and think you are going to get top dollar for it when you are ready to sell.

The other issue I have with mobile homes is the title. Selling a mobile home can relatively be a painless process. However, it can get extremely complicated if you’ve lost track of the title. If the title has been lost, it can slow down the selling process until a replacement is issued.

I am currently dealing with such a situation. The owner lived in the home for 24 years without making any improvements or updates. None of the heirs know where the title is located.

Keep in mind, a mobile home title is a legal document that states you own the property. The title gives you the right to make modifications to the home or sell it to another party. When mobile homes are not affixed to a permanent foundation, as this one wasn’t, the mobile home is considered personal property and a title is issued, similar to those issued for automobiles.

Most mobile home titles are issued by the motor vehicle department (MVD) located in your state. If you sell a mobile home, the new owner signs the title and will have to register it at the MVD. If the title has been lost, it can take two to three weeks to get a replacement. There is a fee to replace it. In the case above, we have requested a duplicate copy from the NCDMV.

Most states like North Carolina, allow you to go online and fill out an application with all the detailed information, viz., model number, date of manufacture, serial number, etc. In most cases, you can find this information on a label inside a kitchen cabinet, a hall or bedroom closet or a metal label attached to the outside of the home. All of this is assuming the labels have not been removed.

Can you sell a mobile home if you don’t have the title? I don’t know about your state, but the short answer in North Carolina is no. Without the title, you can’t legally transfer ownership of the property.

If you are thinking about selling your home, farm or land, give us a call at 252-257-4822 or visit our website at www.cansellnow.com.