Purging a Manufactured Home?
The Division of Real Estate (Division) has recently received inquiries from both real estate professionals and consumers regarding the transfer of title concerning a manufactured home. While there are various steps to this procedure, each county in Colorado will be able to assist with this process. But first, let’s look at some general information.
What is a Manufactured Home?
As defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): “A manufactured home (formerly known as a mobile home) is built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) and displays a red certification label on the exterior of each transportable section. Manufactured homes are built in the controlled environment of a manufacturing plant and are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis.”
What is a Mobile Home?
A mobile home is best described as a movable or portable dwelling built on a chassis, connected to utilities, designed without a permanent foundation, and that is intended for year-round living. A “mobile home” was also the term used for manufactured homes produced prior to June 15, 1976, which is when the HUD Code became effective.
What is a Modular Home?
A modular home is a prefabricated home that involves constructing repeated sections away from the building site in a controlled environment, and then having them delivered to the site for final installation. They do not have axles or a metal frame and the sections are typically transported on flat-bed trucks. Installation of the prefabricated sections is then completed on-site. These homes are built to the same local and state building codes as site-built homes, placed on a permanent foundation, and not intended to be moved.
Manufactured Home Title “Purging” (Permanently Affixing a Manufactured Home to Real Estate)
So, what does it mean to “purge” the title to a manufactured home? Typically, manufactured homes are placed on a temporary foundation and titled. However, manufactured homes can also be placed on a permanent foundation and not titled, but proper documentation will still need to be recorded.
If a manufactured home is titled, it will have a Colorado Certificate of Title from the Division of Motor Vehicle Office in the county where the home is located. Oftentimes, these titled homes will be located in a manufactured home park. A titled manufactured home is valued and taxed separately from the land upon which it is located until the time that it is permanently affixed to the land.
There may be circumstances when a manufactured home does not have a Certificate of Title, however, as of July 1, 2008, an owner of a manufactured home that is permanently affixed to the land must have proper documentation recorded in the county.
Once a titled manufactured home is not capable of being drawn over the public highways and it has become permanently affixed to the land, the “purging” process will require that the home be inspected by the county to verify the permanent attachment to the land. In addition, the owner must submit the Certificate of Title and other required county documents. Involvement at the county level will include the offices of the Clerk and Recorder, the Assessor, and the Treasurer.
The title to a manufactured home will then be considered "purged" when the owner surrenders the home's title to the Colorado Department of Revenue, which will then delete the title from state records. The county will then have only one account and parcel number for the home, and only a deed will be required to transfer ownership of the property in the future.
You can find additional information and the required forms for “purging” the title to a manufactured home at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office where the home is located, the Colorado Department of Revenue, and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.