You are so right - Michigan has more manufactured housing than any state I've ever driven through or lived in. Nebraska and Iowa both have pretty strict rules about placement of manufactured houses - not in a city, etc. Here, you see single wides in developed cities. Still boggles my mind.
Some of the more rural areas have a high percentage of manufactured housing - this is a direct result of vacation/second properties. Many of the older single wides were utilized as hunting camps only. Also, due to the economics of small town living, manufactured housing is prevalent in the rural areas due to affordability.
Many townships are now enacting building codes which restrict the width of any improvement to not less than 24' - this will result in fewer and fewer single wides.
In July 2003 the State of Michigan enacted Senate Bill 425 which allows an owner of a manufactured house to file an Affidavit of Affixture. This affidavit has the concept of "retiring" the title to the manufactured house making it part of the real estate - previously, a manufactured house would be considered personal property in some jurisdictions, and when the property went into foreclosure, the manufactured house was taken off the site and the lender was left with the vacant land only. Dealers are retiring the titles as part of the closing on newer manufactured houses.
Some homeowners/builders are confused and assume the affadavit of affixture makes the manufactured house "site built."
It should be noted that under this bill if the title holder becomes owner of manufactured house through foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure the affadavit of affixture must be filed. This is part of my addendum on manufactued housing in Michigan:
Appraiser’s Supplemental Certification for Manufactured Housing
The construction quality of manufactured housing is a significant determination of value. This appraiser has adequate experience and knowledge in the appraisal of manufactured homes in this area to adequately estimate the fair market value. The manufactured house complies with all HUD requirements unless otherwise stated in the comments section. The comparable sales in this appraisal are single transactions and are not the result of combining vacant land sale with the contract purchase of a manufactured home. Sales and listings of similar manufactured houses have been reviewed and analyzed, and this report uses at least two similar manufactured houses as comparables, unless otherwise mentioned in the report.
The State of Michigan enacted Senate Bill No. 425 on July 14, 2003 enabling the owner of a manufactured house to retire title to such improvements thus restricting the conveyance of the improvements as part of the real property to which it is affixed. Certain requirements must be met, and specific instructions must be followed.
Also, according to Senate Bill No 425, subsection (7):
“If the holder of a lien or security interest becomes the owner of a mobile home affixed to real property through the process of real property foreclosure or through a deed in lieu of foreclosure under subsection (6), the holder shall submit an affidavit described in subsection (1) to the department after the redemption period for the foreclosure expires or the deed in lieu of foreclosure is recorded and the department shall cancel the certificate of title for the mobile home.”
http://www.michiganlegislature.org/documents/2003-2004/publicact/htm/2003-PA-0044.htm
I consider this relevant information for the client as the law does require the title be retired in the event of foreclosure. Many homeowners do not know where their title is, or have destroyed their title due to a previous appraisal which called the improvements site built. Obtaining a title can be a time consuming process.
