Home / Manufactured Home Loans / Affidavit of Affixture
Title and Ownership MCL 125.2330i

Your manufactured home has
a title like a car.

Until that title is cancelled and the home is legally joined to the land, no standard mortgage program will finance it. The filing that fixes this is called an affidavit of affixture. Most people find out it exists about four days before closing.

Check a Property's Title Status Manufactured Home Loans
The Short Answer

An affidavit of affixture is the Michigan filing that converts a manufactured home from personal property to real property. The state issues manufactured homes a certificate of title, similar to a vehicle. The affidavit cancels that title and makes the home part of the land. Lenders require it because under Michigan law, a mortgage recorded against the real estate does not attach a home that is still personally titled.

MCL 125.2330i
Governing Statute
LARA
Where It Is Filed
7 to 10
Business Days, Typically
2 Steps
State Approval, Then Recording

Why a mortgage lender actually cares

This is the part most explanations skip, and it is the reason the requirement is not negotiable.

In Michigan, the Mobile Home Commission Act is the exclusive method for perfecting a security interest in a manufactured home. That is not a lender preference. It is how the law works, and it was settled through litigation.

What that means in practice: if the home is still titled as personal property and a lender records a mortgage against the real estate, the mortgage attaches to the land. It does not attach to the house sitting on it. The lender would be secured by a vacant lot while having financed a home.

No lender will knowingly close in that position, and no investor will buy that loan. So FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional guidelines all require real property title before funding. Not after. Before.

Practical consequence. If a manufactured home is still personally titled when you go under contract, the affixture has to be completed before closing. That is a state filing plus a county recording, and neither moves on your timeline.

Check first. It may already be done.

Before anyone starts filling out forms, find out whether the home was already affixed. Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs maintains a searchable record of issued affidavits by manufacturer serial number.

Plenty of Northern Michigan homes were affixed decades ago by a previous owner. The current owner often has no idea, because once it is done there is nothing to remind you. We have seen sellers start the filing process on a home that was converted in 1994.

The reverse is also common. An owner assumes it was handled at some point, nobody checks, and it surfaces in underwriting with two weeks left on the contract.

What the filing actually requires

The affidavit goes to LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes, Building Division. The requirements are specific and applications get returned for being incomplete.

  • The original Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin, not a copy, for a new application
  • Owner names on the affidavit matching the names on the title exactly
  • Year, manufacturer, model, and manufacturer's serial number of the home
  • The legal description of the real property, taken from the recorded deed
  • The original application signed before a notary
  • Written consent from any lienholder of record to terminate the security interest and cancel the title
  • The state filing fee, paid by check or money order to the State of Michigan

Once LARA approves it, the affidavit comes back to you. It is not finished at that point. It still has to be recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the property sits. Until it is recorded, the conversion has not legally happened.

If the title is lost

This happens constantly with homes that have been on a parcel for thirty years. Michigan built a separate path for it at MCL 125.2330k, using an affidavit of missing title.

That route requires more documentation: the owner and property addresses, a statement that the home is affixed, information satisfactory to the department about when the home was placed on the property, a statement that the home is not in a mobile home park, and the legal description and tax parcel number with a copy of the vesting deed attached. If the serial number is also unknown, copies of the recorded deeds in the chain of title are required.

It is a longer road, but it is a road. A lost title is not a dead end.

The process, start to finish

Six steps. The order matters, and skipping step one wastes the most time.

1

Check whether it is already affixed

Search the state's affidavit of affixture records using the home's serial number. If a record exists, you are done and the home is already real property. This single step saves more deals than any other.

2

Find the original certificate of title

Not a photocopy. The original Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin has to accompany a new application, and the owner names on it must match the affidavit exactly. Name mismatches from a marriage, divorce, or estate transfer have to be resolved first.

3

Clear any lien on the title

If there is a recorded security interest on the home, that lienholder has to consent in writing to terminating it and cancelling the title. If there is an existing chattel loan on the home, this is the step that takes the longest.

4

Pull the legal description from the deed

The affidavit needs the legal description of the parcel, which comes from the recorded deed at the county register of deeds. Do not use the tax bill, the listing, or the assessor's record. Those are frequently abbreviated or wrong.

5

Notarize and submit to LARA

Submit the original signed and notarized application to the Bureau of Construction Codes, Building Division, with the required fee. Processing has generally run about 7 to 10 business days after receipt, though incomplete applications get returned and start the clock over.

6

Record it with the county

When the approved affidavit comes back, record it with the register of deeds in the county where the property is located. This is the step people forget. Until it is recorded, the home is still personal property as far as a lender is concerned.

Situations that complicate it

The straightforward version is six steps. These are the ones that are not straightforward.

Very Common

The title is lost

Use the affidavit of missing title path under MCL 125.2330k. It requires more supporting documentation including the vesting deed and evidence of when the home was placed on the property, and the home cannot be in a mobile home park.

Name Issues

Owners do not match

A marriage, divorce, death, or trust transfer can leave the title in different names than the deed. The affidavit requires a match. Resolve the chain before filing, not during.

Takes Longest

Existing lien on the home

A chattel lender holding a security interest has to consent in writing to cancelling the title. That consent is on their timeline, not yours, and it is the most common cause of a blown closing date.

Not Eligible

Home is in a park

Affixture requires an ownership interest in the land, meaning fee simple or a ground lease running at least 20 years past the recording date. A standard park lot lease does not qualify.

Reversal

Moving the home later

If a home that has been affixed is going to be detached and moved, an affidavit of detachment must be recorded in the same county before the home is detached. Plan for it before scheduling a mover.

Timing

Discovered during underwriting

State approval plus county recording does not fit inside a two week extension. If this surfaces late, the honest conversation is about moving the closing date rather than hoping.

Common questions

An affidavit of affixture is the legal filing that converts a manufactured home from personal property to real property in Michigan. Manufactured homes are issued a certificate of title by the state, similar to a vehicle. Filing the affidavit cancels that title and makes the home part of the land it sits on. It is authorized under the Michigan Mobile Home Commission Act, 1987 PA 96, at MCL 125.2330i.
Because the Mobile Home Commission Act is the exclusive method for perfecting a security interest in a manufactured home in Michigan. If the home is still titled as personal property, recording a mortgage against the real estate does not attach the home to the loan. The lender would be secured by the land and not the house. That is why FHA, VA, USDA, and conventional programs all require real property title before closing.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs maintains a searchable record of issued affidavits of affixture by manufacturer serial number. Many Northern Michigan homes were affixed decades ago and the current owner has no idea. Check before assuming you need to file, and check before assuming you do not.
For a new application, the original Certificate of Title or Certificate of Origin must accompany the form. The owner names on the affidavit must match the title exactly. You also need the manufacturer, year, model, and serial number of the home, and the legal description of the real property taken from the recorded deed. The application must be signed before a notary and submitted as an original, not a copy.
State processing has generally run about 7 to 10 business days after receipt, though that is not a guaranteed timeline and incomplete applications are returned. After LARA approves and returns the affidavit, it still has to be recorded with the county register of deeds. Build real time into a purchase contract if the affixture has not been completed before the offer.
Michigan has a separate path for this at MCL 125.2330k. The owner submits an affidavit of missing title containing specific information including the owner and property addresses, a statement that the home is affixed, evidence of when the home was placed on the property, a statement that the home is not located in a mobile home park, and the legal description and tax parcel number with a copy of the vesting deed attached.
No, not in the ordinary sense. Affixture requires an ownership interest in the land, defined as fee simple ownership or a ground lease with a term continuing at least 20 years after the affidavit is recorded. A typical month-to-month or annual park lot lease does not meet that standard, and the missing title process specifically requires a statement that the home is not in a mobile home park.
Yes. If an owner of both the home and the land intends to detach the home, an affidavit of detachment must be recorded with the register of deeds in the same county where the original affidavit was recorded, before the home is detached. This matters if a home is being moved to a different parcel.
It varies. Sometimes the seller completes it before listing. Sometimes the title company coordinates it as a condition of closing. Sometimes nobody notices until underwriting flags it and the closing date slips. The cleanest outcome is identifying the title status before an offer is written, which is a five minute conversation.

Where to go from here

Title status is one piece. These are the other things that decide whether a manufactured home is financeable.

Manufactured Home Loans in Michigan Programs, requirements, and how the whole process works. Pre-1976 Mobile Homes Check the build date before anything else. It overrides everything. USDA Rural Development Loans Zero down in eligible rural areas across Northern Michigan. Free Consultation Send us the property and we will tell you where it stands.

Find out the title status before you write the offer.

We check this on every manufactured home file. Send us the address and the serial number if you have it, and we will tell you whether the home is already real property or whether you are looking at a filing.

Free Consultation Text Angie: 616-581-6123 Text Kirby: 231-709-3136

Equal Housing Lender. All loans subject to credit approval and underwriting. Program eligibility, rates, and terms are subject to change without notice. This is not a commitment to lend. Information about Michigan affixture requirements is provided for general education and reflects the Michigan Mobile Home Commission Act, 1987 PA 96. It is not legal advice. State forms, fees, and processing times are set by the State of Michigan and are subject to change. Consult an attorney or title company regarding a specific property. Angie Anderson NMLS #1999286 | Kirby Slocum NMLS #680817 | Union Home Mortgage NMLS #2229229. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.