Frequently Asked Questions
Manufactured
Homes
Q: When do property taxes on manufactured
homes become a lien on the land upon which the manufactured
home is situated?
A: Property taxes on an improvement become a lien
on the real property upon which the improvement
is situated. See GS 105-355(a)(2). Thus, in order
for property taxes on a manufactured home to become
a lien on the real property upon which the manufactured
home is located, the manufactured home must be classified
as an improvement, or, in other words, real property.
To qualify as real property (a term that includes
improvements), a manufactured home must:
(1) be a residential structure;
(2) have the moving hitch, wheels and axles removed;
(3) be placed upon a permanent foundation; and
(4) be situated on land owned by the owner of the
manufactured home or on land in which the owner
of the manufactured home has a leasehold interest
pursuant to a lease with a primary term of at least
20 years that provides for disposition of the manufactured
home upon termination of the lease.
See GS 105-273(13).
If a manufactured home does not satisfy these requirements,
it is not an improvement, and taxes owed upon it
do not become a lien on the land upon which it is
situated.
Some confusion has been created by taxing units’
classifications of manufactured homes as “real
property” when such homes did not meet the
requirements set forth in GS 105-273(13). This practice
ended in 2001 when GS 105-273(13) was amended to
specify that manufactured homes that did not meet
the subsection's specific definition were "considered
tangible personal property." Notwithstanding
the absence of this language from previous versions
of the statute, a taxing unit would be ill-advised
to argue that manufactured homes that did not meet
the requirements of GS 105-273(13) before the 2001
amendment were property classified as real property
and that taxes on these homes were property listed
as taxes owed on real property.
To determine whether taxes owed on a manufactured
home are a lien upon real property, the tax collector
should not rely upon previous classifications of
the manufactured home in the taxing units’
records. Instead, she should independently evaluate
whether the manufactured home qualified as real
property for the years in question by satisfying
the requirements of GS 105-273(13).
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