Certificate of title
The ownership document for a manufactured home treated as personal property, often issued by a state motor-vehicle agency much like a vehicle title.
Published May 31, 2026
A certificate of title is the document that establishes who owns a manufactured home when the home is treated as personal property. In many states it is issued by the same motor-vehicle agency that titles cars, and the home may carry an annual registration.
A certificate of title for a manufactured home typically names the owner, lists any lienholder, and identifies the home. It is the instrument a seller signs over to a buyer, and it is where a lender's security interest is recorded when the home secures a chattel loan.
A home does not always keep a certificate of title forever. When a home is permanently affixed to land the owner also owns, the owner may be able to go through title retirement, after which the home is treated as real property and conveyed by deed instead of by title.
This is general information about the document, not legal advice.