Why is there a Title for a Trailer House?

A local Trailer Park is being shut down. The city wants to develop that land, although I heard it's more because there are too many problems with the tenants. Whatever the reason, they are going to demolish the trailers, but will give them away for free to save the cost of demolition. I got to thinking that my garage has so much stuff in it, that I cant use it as a garage anymore. A trailer would be a solution, and for only the cost to have it moved about 10 miles, that seems like a cheap storage solution.

I contacted the person in charge and was told to just go look at them, as most are unlocked and open. I went and looked at them, and found that many of them are in very bad shape. In fact in one of them my foot nearly went thru the floor, and others have leaking roofs and mold inside. Sfter seeing those, I was about ready to just forget the whole idea. But there were a few of them locked, and I was told that the guy would be there at 3pm. I waited and the first one he unlocked was really nice inside, and the outside is good also. It even has a semi-attached garage which is also quite nice, and is included, as long as I dismantle it, or find a way to move it.

I told the guy that I'd take that one. I found a guy who will move it for a fair price and was ready to begin removing the skirting and figuring out what to do with that garage. That's when the guy in charge told me that he had bad news. He said there is no title for that trailer.

First off, I never knew that house trailers even have titles, and now I'm wondering why???? It's not like they are driven down the road on a regular basis.

I live on a farm, and I dont plan to move it once it's here. It will remain here permanently. If I sell the farm, it will stay. So why do I need a title? If I build a house, small cabin, or shed, that dont have a title. In fact some years ago, I did build a cabin for guests when they visit, and when the weather is very hot, I often sleep in there because it's small, and thus it cools better for much less power use than in my house.

I asked a local guy who used to work for a real estate company, and he said that since it will be used for storage that I probably dont need the title, but if I was to live in it, it would need a title. I asked him why, and told him what I said above (if I build a house, small cabin, or shed, that dont have a title.). He said that he really does not know why, and explained that he only assisted realtors, by mostly doing repairs for them, and went on to say he did not take any training, and dont know the legal aspects.

So, that leaves me puzzled..... Why is a title needed?

Note: From the looks of things, the person in charge has said that he will give me the key, and "look the other way" if I want it, as long as it's not kept inside the city limits. So I guess I can have it without a title, since it's going on a farm quite a distance from the city. He also told me that I CAN NOT live in it without a title, but for storage it should not matter. (which makes no sense at all). But that still dont explain the need for a title???????

Reply to
Farmer588
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Go to your state's DMV website and look up the requirements for what types of trailers require a title.

A title is used to prove ownership. If there is a lien (e.g. a mortgage) against the trailer, the title will show that. If you take possession without a clear title, there's a (slim) chance that a bank or other lien holder could repossess the trailer if there is an outstanding loan on it.

Instead of talking to a guy that does repairs for a real estate company, why don't you call an actual real estate agent for an explanation?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:39:23 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@farm.com wrote in Re Why is there a Title for a Trailer House?:

It's my understanding that state laws *define* a mobile home as a vehicle. They then do the title stuff so they can 1) tax it, 2) provide a central location to keep records (liens) about it, and most importantly 3) control it.

Check with the DMV as to what records they have for it. Just because the city doesn't have the title paper, doesn't mean that a record doesn't exist. Also, you can probably get a replacement title paper from the DMV if you can prove that you own it.

Reply to
CRNG

First, check your state from the list on this site.

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snipped-for-privacy@farm.com wrote:

Reply to
willshak

Duh. So the govt can track and tax the owner and real estate industry can make money off all parties involved with xferring the title.

nb

Reply to
notbob

So it has nothing to do with proving ownership so that when I buy a house/car/trailer a lien holder can't take it away from me even though I was never associated with or responsible for the lien?

Who knew!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

If you are putting it somewhere that the county.state does not know about, you don't need the title in any practical sense.

It basically comes down to the different classes of "house trailers". There are RVs (which might actually look like a mobile homes but lack HUD approvals). There are Mobile homes that can be towed, you can take the wheels off and permanently install them (have HUD approval) There are manufactured homes that may be one or more manufactured modules that are always permanently installed. Each state deals with them differently. Some like Florida, consider the first two a motor vehicle and you may even need to buy a tag every year for it. The last is seen as a building.

It is really all about the taxes and how they collect them.

Reply to
gfretwell

I talked with some friends that were in the housing business. They were putting together a modular home. They went to a factory and down one side were double wide mobile homes and the other side were modular homes. The only differance you could really see was the mobile homes have a title and modular ones don't . Behind my dads house was a single wide trailer . It was old and could not be replaced by another trailer by the county trailer zoning rules. The move in somethng that looked just like a single wide trailer, but it did not have a title and was called a modular home.

Seems that calling a trailer al modular home by the ones that make it gets around the zoning rules.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

At the risk of repeating myself, a title is not just "all about the taxes".

From my state's DMV website:

"...a title certificate proves ownership of a car, truck, motorcycle, motorboat or manufactured home. The title is used to transfer it to another owner."

Since it is often the case that it's the owner that is responsible for the taxes, in that regard the title could be said to be "about the taxes". However, it's also very much (even more so) about who actually owns the property and who has the right to transfer it to another party.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

That all gets back to that HUD approval.

If it is HUD approved, it can be called a home, not a trailer/RV.

In Florida it is virtually impossible to install a mobile home these days. None I have ever heard of meet the new wind code (although they may be making one) If you are grandfathered in, you can keep it but it can't be moved or replaced.

Reply to
gfretwell

All "tags" are about the taxes. There are plenty of things that move around in commerce that are worth more than a 1974 Gremlin but you still need tags and a title for that Gremlin.

Reply to
gfretwell

Read what you wrote.

Earlier you said titles were all about axes, now you say "all tags" about taxes.

At first I assumed you were grouping tags and titles together, but then you finished with "you need tags and a title for that Gremlin." That means you consider them 2 different things - which they are.

Titles establish ownership. Taxes may or not be the responsibility of the owner but the title isn't directly about taxes, it's about ownership.

At the

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if you look at the title transfer page for various states, you'll read things such as...

"A title is a legal document that signifies ownership in a piece of property" (ND) "A title, or pink slip, proves that you own your vehicle" (NY) "A title is proof of legal ownership of a vehicle" (AK) "The document referred to as a title is what designates one individual (or more) as the legal owner of a vehicle" (TX)

Once again, a title establishes ownership. How taxes are associated with the title holder is established by the tax code for that taxing jurisdiction, but that is not the same as saying that the title "is all about the taxes".

The title is all about ownership.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Yep.

And the OP should realize since there is no title, there is a good probability that he's taking possession of stolen property with the risks that entails.

Reply to
Dan Espen

It's all of those and more. It *is* a trailer, so is mobile. It then falls under the motor vehicle codes. In some states, it's a motor vehicle unless you remove the hitch and axle(s), in which case it becomes real property, and taxed as such.

It may be too old to have a title. Titling trailers my be a relatively recent thing in the state (boats and motorcycles are similar).

Reply to
krw

On 10/3/2013 5:39 AM, snipped-for-privacy@farm.com wrote: ...[long story elided for brevity]...

Because it's what State law in your state seems to say is why.

It's generally so and as others have noted if it is so in the state then it is the legal documentation that confers ownership.

Occupancy and all the rest are controlled by the local jurisdiction's rules.

...

[doesn't] have a title.

No, real property has a deed instead.

Again, you need what you need because of what state law is in the state of residence. There is (and need not be) any other reason than that. "Rules is rules"...

As others have noted, in such an instance if the area you reside in is unzoned you may be able to get buy w/o doing anything; if, otoh it is zoned and subject to such ordinances then you could find you've got a sticky wicket if you ignore the niceties upfront.

Reply to
dpb

The title process is how they collect the excise tax.,

It has very little to do with ownership, it is just how they can tax a person to person sale.

Reply to
gfretwell

As I pointed out earlier, tags and titles are 2 different things. gfretwell basically said the same thing in an earlier post, yet he keeps insisting, even after to evidence to the contrary, that titles have "very little" to do with ownership. I'm not quite sure why he doesn't believe/understand the definitions I posted from various states.

It's certainly not worth arguing about anymore.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Does this mean they won't let you have it, at your own risk? Maybe you can just sign something promising to hold the vendor/giver and r realtor and list anyone else involved harmless if you have expenses down the road because there is no title. Maybe it can't happen here but in some cases, the owner would come back, find the trailer or your land, and force you to buy a shed to hold its contents so he can tow away the trailer. Or even, though he might be liable in the long run, he might be hard to find (even though he has this big trailer with him) after he throws everything you own out into the rain and mud the rainy night he decides to tow away the trailer, maybe even the night you go away on your two week vacation so it all sits out there in the rain or people driving buy pick over the stuff and take most of it away.

If you're willing to bear the risk of that happening, there's no reason you shouldn't sign the paper described above. If they'll accept that.

Why wouldn't you be? Well, just guessing, and with no experience in anything related to this, without the title they had a hard time notifying the owner that they were going to demolish the trailers. Maybe the original owner died and the county has hired a private detective to try to find heirs. Maybe they'll never find an heir or the time limit on looking is up soon, so the risk to you is verrrry small. Even if they do find one, what are the odds he'll throw your stuff in the mud. Probably zero.

Things to ask about. "Why doesn't this one have a title when the others do?" seems more important than why to trailers need a title.

Most problems that one can imagine never really happen, so I'd take it if I could get it, even with the small risks I listed, which may or may not be real.

OTOH, the reason such a nice one is left might be that it doesn't have a title. If it did, maybe it would be gone by now.

Reply to
micky

Under the described circumstances, the chance of it being "stolen" is extremely slim - and if the "seller" gives a "bill of sale" saying he has given posession to the OP, the OP can apply for clear title from the courts or DMV

Reply to
clare

The title establishes ownership, like the deed to a property. Since a trailer is personal property, not real property, it does not get taxed as real estate, so in order for a municipality or state to get tax revenue to provide services etc some issued "tags" to establish the tax base.

Reply to
clare

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