Mississippi Mobile Home law information

1. Effective July 1, 1999, mobile homes sold in Mississippi are to be titled as motor vehicles. Certificates of Title are issued by the State Tax Commission based upon applications for title made through the Commission’s agents or the County Tax Collector for the county where the mobile home is located. Any lienholders would be designated on the Certificate, and the original Certificate would be held by the first lienholder. This procedure would be followed even if the mobile home is also secured by a security agreement as personal property, or attached to the real estate and described in a deed of trust. Upon repossession and resale of the mobile home, an application for a new Certificate of Title will have to be made, and if the original Certificate is not available for attachment to the application, or if it cannot be established that a security interest was properly perfected as required prior to July 1, 1999 (see Section 2 below), application for a Certificate of title will likely require acquisition of a bond in amount of 150% of the value of the mobile home, as determined by the State Tax Commission, and this bond or cash deposit must be maintained for a period of three years until the applicable statute of limitations expires.

2. If a mobile home were the subject of a security interest perfected prior to July 1, 1999, it would remain perfected until that lien lapses under the law under which it was perfected. (A) If the mobile home is attached to the real property and has been so classified by the county tax assessor’s office and secured by a deed of trust, it could be foreclosed as real property. Upon resale, application for a Certificate of Title would be made by producing copies of the deed of trust describing the mobile home (including year, make, model, serial number, etc.), the substituted trustee’s deed conveying the property out the foreclosure, which likewise describes the property, and by producing a recorded copy of the tax assessor’s classification of the mobile home as real property. If the mobile home is separated from the real property and sold separately, the county tax assessor would need to be so advised and the various statutory requirements satisfied to remove the mobile home from the land rolls. (B) If the mobile home is classified as personal property, it would be recovered under the terms of the security agreement and applicable provisions of Article 9 of the Mississippi Uniform Commercial Code. If the mobile home is abandoned, the property could be repossessed through self-help. Otherwise, a replevin action would be filed in Circuit or County Court to recover the mobile home. Upon resale of the mobile home as provided in the security agreement, application for a Certificate of Title would be made on forms prescribed by the State Tax Commission, attaching copies of the UCC-1, security agreement, etc. evidencing the lien, repossession and sale. If the perfection of a lien cannot be adequately demonstrated, a bond may be required as discussed in Section 1.