One of my favorite things happened today. A consumer commented where I previously posted this and said it was helpful. I'd like to go a step further and tell anyone that if they phone me I can offer some direction and assistance of how to go about in the process of who to call to get it done. Lately the process has taken a little longer. Perhaps I can even give you some ideas of calls to make to make sure it's not this or that place before you pay for a bonded title if it comes to that. I'm happy to help.
If you are selling a manufactured home in the state of Georgia, there are now specific laws in place on how to handle the DMV title to your manufactured home. These laws have been in place since 2002, but some purchases made since that time were not handled properly. MANY transactions closed without transfer of title prior to 2002.
I had a recent experience where my seller owned a manufactured doublewide on Lake Sinclair and what the title search uncovered was shocking. One half of the doublewide was in the name of owner # 1 of property, one half was in the name of # 3 owner and my seller was owner # 7.
Since owner # 1 was deceased and owner # 3 could not be located, this presented a bit of a problem. When the person who's name the title is currently in cannot be located, the only solution is a bonded/insured title. This takes just a few steps and the cost depends on the value the state of Georgia places on the home based on it's make, model and size. It usually runs between $300 and $1,000.
The insurance company will usually mail the paperwork to my office and then we have a deputy sheriff 
meet us at the home with the T-22b forms to verify serial numbers. That paperwork along with a check for the bonded title amount is sent back to the insurance company. Then they mail back to the seller or my office (whichever is more convenient to my seller) and the seller then has to take paperwork to the court house to be filed and usually within about 10 days the state will mail a new title to be transferred and retired at the time of closing. Once a title to a manufactured home is retired it is no longer an issue.
There are times when the previous owner can be located, but does not actually have the title. It's "lost" misplaced, discarded. If the previous owner will cooperate, money can be saved by ordering a duplicate title. The person who's name the title is in must go to the court house where the property is located and show proof of identity and for $8.00 can order a duplicate title that can be transferred into current owners name for an additional $18.00.
I have driven out of town and picked up previous owners to come to the courthouse to take care of this and had duplicate title mailed to my office and then driven it back to out of town previous owners for signature. The signed duplicate title can then be transfered into current owners name.
We also recently had a title that still showed a lien from a loan that had been paid off and we had to get the former loan holder to fill out a form to get the lien removed from the new title.
In my experience in real estate in an area where we have many manufactured homes I have encountered this issue many times. It is now part of my listing check list when dealing with a manufactured home, because sometimes it takes weeks to locate people and get all the paperwork done.
If you own a manufactured home, find out before you decide to sell it if your title is in your name. In fact you can retire it and not have to deal with it when you sell at all if it is in your name and not being held by your lender.
If you don't know where your title is or if in fact it is even in your name you can call the tag office in the county where your manufactured home is located and give them the serial number (which is located inside the home "usually") and they can tell you the information of current name? any liens?
Additional information is available on the Georgia Department of Revenue web site.
If you are listing your manufactured home, you want to make sure that you are listing with an agent who is experienced in handling these types of issues so your transaction can go smoothly.
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