What's happening
This bill establishes procedures for treating manufactured homes as real property, updating legal definitions and title processes in New York.
Why it matters
Streamlines the legal status of manufactured homes. By establishing a clear process for treating manufactured homes as real property (when affixed to land), the bill makes it easier for homeowners to access traditional mortgages, legal protections, and property rights similar to those of site-built homes. This can help manufactured homeowners build equity and increase the value of their property.
Protects lenders and clarifies liens. The new process ensures that security interests and liens are properly handled during the conversion of a manufactured home from personal to real property (and vice versa). This reduces legal ambiguities for lenders and buyers, potentially improving access to financing and reducing disputes over property title.
Improves recordkeeping and transparency. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to maintain comprehensive, publicly accessible electronic records of affidavits, titles, and conversions related to manufactured homes. This enhanced tracking reduces the risk of fraud or title defects and facilitates smoother real estate transactions.
Gives homeowners flexibility and security. The legislation provides a standardized method for converting a manufactured home back to personal property if it is detached from the land, and addresses the treatment of existing security interests. This flexibility protects both homeowners and creditors, and supports greater mobility or resale options for owners.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Let Manufactured Homes Be Real Property
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Let Mobile Homes Become Real Property
In Assembly Committee · Judiciary · Sponsor Fred Thiele
Full text
20 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
S. 4984 A. 7002
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2019
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, PALUMBO, JAFFEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the executive law, the banking law, the personal property law, the vehicle and traffic law and the real property law, in relation to manufactured home certificates of title, and the conveyance and encumbrance of manufactured homes as real property
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York land-home property act".
§ 2. Subdivision 13 of section 372 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 309 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
13. ["Mobile home"] "Manufactured home" means a [moveable or portable unit designed and constructed to be towed on its own chassis, comprised of frame and wheels, connected to utilities, and designed and constructed without a permanent foundation for year-round living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when being towed and expanded later to provide additional cubic capacity as well as two or more separately towable components designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of being again separated into the components for repeated towing. "Mobile home" shall mean units designed to be used exclusively for residential purposes, excluding travel trailers] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 3. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph l of subdivision 5-a of section 108 of the banking law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03259-01-9
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(ii) "mobile home" or "manufactured home" means a [structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 4. Clause (ii) of item 1 of subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 of subdivision 8 of section 235 of the banking law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
(ii) "mobile home" or "manufactured home" means a [structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 5. Clause (ii) of subparagraph 1 of paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 380 of the banking law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
(ii) "mobile home" or "manufactured home" means a [structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 6. Subdivision 2 of section 491 of the banking law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
2. "Motor vehicle" or "vehicle" means any device propelled or drawn by any power other than muscular power, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, road or street. Unless otherwise specified, "motor vehicle" or "vehicle" also means a "mobile home" or "manufactured home". "Mobile home" or "manufactured home" means a [structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 7. Subdivision 1 of section 301 of the personal property law, as amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
S. 4984 3 A. 7002
1. "Motor vehicle" or "vehicle" means any device propelled or drawn by any power other than muscular power, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, road or street except that it shall not include a "snowmobile" as defined in subdivision three of section 21.05 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law. "Motor vehicle" or "vehicle" also means a "mobile home" or a "manufactured home". "Mobile home" or "manufactured home" means a [structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein] manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 8. Section 122-c of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
§ 122-c. Mobile home or manufactured home. [A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein.] The term "mobile home" or "manufactured home" shall have the same meaning as a manufactured home as defined in paragraph fifty-three of subsection (a) of section 9-102 of the uniform commercial code.
§ 9. Paragraph 19 of subdivision (a) of section 2102 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 322 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
(19) A [mobile home or a] manufactured home, manufactured prior to July first, nineteen hundred ninety-four and designated by the manufacturer as being a nineteen hundred ninety-four or earlier model year [mobile home or] manufactured home, [and] any [mobile home or] manufactured home, manufactured or assembled prior to January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four for which the manufacturer has not designated a model year, and any "factory manufactured home" as defined in subdivision eight of section three hundred seventy-two of the executive law.
§ 10. Section 2107 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding thirteen new subdivisions (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o) and (p) to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided in section twenty-one hundred seventeen-d of this article, the commissioner shall not issue a certificate of title to a manufactured home with respect to which there has been filed an affidavit of affixation pursuant to paragraph five of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one hundred seventeen-a of this article, paragraph five of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one hundred seventeen-b of this article, and paragraph five of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one hundred seventeen-c of this article.
(e) The commissioner shall file, upon receipt, each affidavit of affixation that is delivered in accordance with paragraph c of subdivision two of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real property law, each declaration that is delivered pursuant to paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one hundred seventeen-c of this article and each
S. 4984 4 A. 7002
affidavit of severance that is delivered in accordance with subdivision nine of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real property law, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity.
(f) The commissioner shall maintain a record of each affidavit of affixation he or she files in accordance with subdivision (e) of this section. The record shall state the name of the owner of the manufactured home, the county of recordation, the date of recordation, the book and page number of each book of deeds where there has been recorded an affidavit of affixation pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real property law and this article, and if applicable, a statement that filed with the affidavit of affixation is a declaration pursuant to paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one hundred seventeen-c of this article, and any other data the commissioner prescribes.
(g) The commissioner shall file, upon receipt, each application for surrender of the manufacturer's certificate of origin relating to a manufactured home that is delivered in accordance with section twentyone hundred seventeen-a of this article, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity.
(h) The commissioner shall maintain a record of each manufactured home manufacturer's certificate of origin that he or she accepts for surrender as provided in section twenty-one hundred seventeen-a of this article. The record shall state the name of the owner of the manufactured home, the date the manufacturer's certificate of origin was delivered for surrender, the county of recordation, the date of recordation, and the book and page number of each book of deeds where there has been recorded an affidavit of affixation pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real property law and this article, and any other data the commissioner prescribes.
(i) The commissioner shall file, upon receipt, each application for surrender of the certificate of title relating to a manufactured home that is delivered in accordance with section twenty-one hundred seventeen-b of this article, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity.
(j) The commissioner shall maintain a record of each manufactured home certificate of title that he or she accepts for surrender as provided in section twenty-one hundred seventeen-b of this article. The record shall state the name of the owner of the manufactured home, the date the certificate of title was delivered for surrender, the county of recordation, the date of recordation, the book and page number of each book of deeds where there has been recorded an affidavit of affixation pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real property law and this article, and any other data the commissioner prescribes.
(k) The commissioner shall file, upon receipt, each application for confirmation of conversion relating to a manufactured home that is delivered in accordance with section twenty-one hundred seventeen-c of this article, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity.
(l) The commissioner shall maintain a record of each application for confirmation of conversion accepted as provided in section twenty-one hundred seventeen-c of this article. The record shall state the name of the owner of the manufactured home, the county of recordation, the date of recordation, the book and page number of each book of deeds where there has been recorded an affidavit of affixation pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section two hundred ninety-six-a of the real
S. 4984 5 A. 7002
property law and this article, and any other data the commissioner prescribes.
(m) The commissioner shall file, upon receipt, each application for a new certificate of title relating to a manufactured home that is delivered in accordance with section twenty-one hundred seventeen-d of this article, when satisfied as to its genuineness and regularity.
(n) The commissioner shall maintain a record of each affidavit of severance he or she files in accordance with subdivision (m) of this section and section twenty-one hundred seventeen-d of this article. The record shall state the name of the owner of the manufactured home, the county of recordation, the date of recordation, the book and page number of each book of deeds where there has been recorded an affidavit of severance pursuant to subdivision nine of section two hundred ninetysix-a of the real property law, and any other data the commissioner prescribes.
(o) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the commissioner shall maintain the records required by this section indefinitely.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, the banking law, the personal property law, the vehicle and traffic law and the real property law, in relation to manufactured home certificates of title, and the conveyance and encumbrance of manufactured homes as real proper- ty
PURPOSE::
To help enhance financing options for purchasers of manufactured homes. In order to meet the mortgage lending guidelines established by inves- tors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bill would establish a process for surrendering the certificate of title to a manufactured home and "converting" the home real property.
Read the full memo (786 words)
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1. Short title of the act.
Section 2 through 9. Standardizes the definition of "manufactured home" as the term is used I the banking law, the executive law, the personal property law and the vehicle and traffic law. Several sections of law are amended to incorporate the standard definition of "manufactured home" which is used in section 9-102(a) (53) in the uniform commercial code.
Section 10. distinguishes between "manufactured homes" and "factory manufactured homes" the amendment specifies that factory manufactured homes are not subject to the titling provisions that are applicable to manufactured homes.
Section 11. Directs the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to file and main- tain documents related to applications for the surrender of manufactur- ers' certificates of origin, applications for the surrender of certif- icates of title, applications for confirmation of conversion, affidavits of affixation and affidavits of severance.
Sections 12, 14, 15 and 16. Make necessary conforming changes to various sections of law to reflect the establishment of procedures for conveying and encumbering a manufactured home as real property.
Section 13. Adds four new sections to the vehicle and traffic law: 2117-a establishes procedures for surrendering the manufacturer's certificate of origin to a manufactured home; 2117-b establishes proce- dures for surrendering the title to a manufactured home; 2117-c estab- lishes procedures for converting a manufactured home to real property when either the manufactured home is not covered by a certificate of title or manufacturer's certificate of origin or neither the manufactur- er's certificate of origin not the certificate of title can be found; 2117-d establishes procedures for reinstating the certificate of title when a manufactured home that has been converted to real property is later detached or severed from the real property.
JUSTIFICATION::
In order to meet the mortgage lending guidelines established by inves- tors such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bill would establish a process for surrendering the certificate of title to a manufactured home and "converting" the home to real property. not readily available in New York.
Current New York law does not provide a procedure for a surrender of the certificate of title. This amendment makes the changes necessary to allow lenders to comply with the investor requirements that the manufac- tured home be real property under state law, making it possible for investors to purchase New York Land-Home Mortgages without exception.
While many manufactured homes are financed as personal property, the ability to finance land and hoe with a mortgage is an attractive option for many homeowners seeking more favorable financing terms. Without the support and involvement of entities such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in this market, the availability of Land-Home Mortgages is limited.
Currently, forty-three states utilize a certificate of title process to establish ownership of, and to perfect a security interest in, a manu- factured home. All but two of these states (Mississippi and New York) provide a formal statutory procedure for electing to convey and encumber a home as real property. Satisfying this conversion procedure legally converts the home to real property for all purposes.
This bill would establish a similar process in New York State providing the ability to surrender a certificate of title to and convert a manu- factured home to real property. This process will meet the guidelines and requirements of secondary market mortgage investors and therefore help promote affordable mortgage financing for New York manufactured homeowners.
The bill further sets forth required procedures, including a statutorily prescribed form, to be used if a home that has been converted to real property is later severed from the land. Upon completion of all the prescribed requirements, a home is thereafter transferred and financed as personal property and must be covered by a certificate of title unless otherwise exempt.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
2017-18 S.6277/A.7751A; 2015-16 S.520/A.397; 2013-14 S.3520A/A.9239; 2011-12 S.3723A/A.5815A; 2009 S.6081/A.7689
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
None
EFFECTIVE DATE::
Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec- tive date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.