How to Title Mobile Homes in Joint Names With a Non-Spouse in Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, marriage is not a prerequisite to joint ownership of a mobile home. You can take title with one or more individuals, just as you can with site-built homes. There are several ways to take ownership jointly, and your choice of title designation will depend on several different factors. For example, if you want your interest to pass to the co-owner after your death, you must state explicitly on the deed that you are holding title "with right of survivorship." This means that immediately after you die, your share of ownership will pass to your co-owner without the need to go through probate proceedings.
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Instructions
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Contact the tax appraiser's office of the county where the mobile home resides. (If you currently own the mobile home, skip this step.) Look up the address and check the tax records to verify that the mobile home has not been made "real property." Mobile home titles are treated the same way that automobile titles are unless the certificate of title has been "retired" and the mobile home is "affixed" to the property.
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Contact the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) closest to you to change the mobile home title. Tell the clerk that you wish to take title with another individual and that you each wish for the other to receive each other's interests when either of you passes away. Confirm that the title vesting reads something like "John Doe and Jane Smith, as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship." This will ensure that ownership is passed between both owners and not placed into probate.
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Pay the title fee and any applicable taxes to the DMV. Wait for the certificate of title to be mailed to you. Once you receive it, put it in a safe location, such as a home safe or a bank deposit box.
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Tips & Warnings
In Pennsylvania, liens against mobile home titles are valid for a period of 30 years. To make the mobile home a part of the land that it is affixed to, you must request a cancellation form from the DMV.
Before a cancellation will be issued, any liens on the mobile home itself must be shown as either satisfied or transferred to the land itself.
If you ever wish to title the mobile home again, Pennsylvania makes several requirements in connection with your "request to re-establish" the mobile home title after cancellation. The state requires that you prove there are no judgments or liens of any kind recorded against the mobile home, or show proof that any liens have been paid off.
References
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