How is a mobile home titled in Oregon?

Through an ownership document, not a DMV title. Under ORS 446.571(1), 'the owner of a manufactured structure shall apply to the Department of Consumer and Business Services for an ownership document,' and the department issues it and records any security interests. (Oregon moved manufactured-home records from the DMV to the DCBS Building Codes Division; a DMV certificate of title issued before May 1, 2005 still evidences ownership under ORS 446.621.) This is general information, not advice about a specific title — consider consulting a licensed attorney in Oregon.

How does an Oregon manufactured home become part of the real estate?

By recording it in the county deed records. Under ORS 446.626, an owner who 'also owns the land,' holds a recorded leasehold of '20 years or more' that permits it, or is a member of a manufactured dwelling park nonprofit cooperative that owns the land, may record the home in the deed records; the ownership document is then cancelled and the home becomes 'subject to the same provisions of law applicable to any other building, housing or structure on the land.'

Mobile home titles in Oregon

Q: Is an Oregon mobile home taxed as personal property or real property?

As personal property while it has an ownership document. Under ORS 446.571(1), 'except as provided in ORS 308.875, a manufactured structure for which an ownership document is issued is subject to assessment and taxation as personal property.' Under ORS 308.875, a home sited on land owned by the same person is generally assessed as real property — and recording the home in the deed records makes that explicit.

Oregon documents manufactured-home ownership through an ownership document issued by the Building Codes Division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, taxes the home as personal property while it sits on a rented lot, and provides a deed-recording path to convert it to real property. The information below describes how the law generally works; anyone with a specific title question should consider consulting a licensed attorney in Oregon.

What the statute says

Under ORS 446.571(1), "the owner of a manufactured structure shall apply to the Department of Consumer and Business Services for an ownership document," the department issues it and notes any security interests, and "except as provided in ORS 308.875, a manufactured structure for which an ownership document is issued is subject to assessment and taxation as personal property under the ad valorem tax laws of this state." A DMV certificate of title issued before May 1, 2005 still "is effective as a document evidencing ownership" (ORS 446.621).

To make the home part of the real estate, ORS 446.626 lets an owner record it in the county deed records if the owner "also owns the land," "is the holder of a recorded leasehold estate of 20 years or more if the lease specifically permits" it, or "is a member of a manufactured dwelling park nonprofit cooperative ... that owns the land." On recording, the assessor "shall send the ownership document to the department for cancellation," and "the recording of a manufactured structure in the deed records of the county makes the structure subject to the same provisions of law applicable to any other building, housing or structure on the land."

How it works in general

An Oregon manufactured home is tracked by an ownership document held with the DCBS Building Codes Division (the modern replacement for the old DMV title), and a sale transfers ownership through that document. While the home sits on a rented park lot it is assessed and taxed as personal property. When the owner has the right kind of interest in the land — outright ownership, a recorded 20-year-plus lease that allows it, or co-op membership in a resident-owned park — they can record the home in the county deed records, which cancels the ownership document and turns the home into real property taxed and conveyed with the land. The process is reversible: the owner can later remove the home from the deed records and obtain a new ownership document (ORS 446.626(4)).

Common scenarios

General examples Oregon residents commonly encounter:

A home sits on a rented park lot. It is held by a DCBS ownership document and taxed as personal property (ORS 446.571).
An owner owns the land (or holds a qualifying long lease or co-op membership). Recording the home in the deed records converts it to real property (ORS 446.626).
An owner has an old DMV title. A pre-May-2005 certificate of title still evidences ownership until the home is moved or sold (ORS 446.621).

Other authorities that may apply

The DCBS Building Codes Division issues and cancels the ownership document (ORS 446.515–446.746); the county assessor records the home in the deed records (ORS 446.626) and assesses the ad valorem tax (ORS 308.875). The home's construction follows the federal HUD code, and the ownership document, deed, and any financing documents also control.