ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
manufactured housing; assessment
(NOW: mobile homes; affidavit of
affixture)
Purpose
Outlines the procedures for classifying
a mobile home and the land to which it is affixed as real property.
Background
Current law allows manufactured homes to be assessed as real property only if the home is permanently affixed to land that is owned and an affidavit of affixture is filed with the county recorder (A.R.S. 42-15202). However, manufactured homes that are affixed to leased land are assessed as personal property and are generally subject to higher rates of mortgage financing and property taxes than comparable homes assessed as real property.
H.B. 2263 allows a mobile home owner that leases the land the home is situated on for at least 15 years, to file an affidavit of affixture with a county recorder for purposes of assessing the mobile home and the real property to which it is affixed as real property.
There is no anticipated fiscal impact
to the state general fund associated with this measure.
Provisions
1.
Allows a person who owns a mobile home located on real
property not owned by that person to file an affidavit of affixture with a
county recorder if all of the following conditions are met:
a) The mobile home has been
installed on the real property in compliance with mobile home installation
standards.
b) A mobile home owner has
entered into a lease for the real property on which the mobile home is located
for at least 15 years and the lease permits the recording of an affidavit of
affixture.
c) Before filing the
affidavit of affixture, a memorandum of lease is recorded that includes
information about the landlord, tenant and the mobile home, a legal description
of the real property and the duration and terms of the lease.
2.
Specifies that a memorandum of lease is not valid unless
the signatures of both the landlord and the tenant are included and
acknowledged.
3.
Details the elements sufficient for a legal description of
the real property for a mobile home park with or without a plat recorded with
the county recorder.
4.
Requires an affidavit of affixture to contain all of the
following:
a) The vehicle
identification numbers of the mobile home.
b) A legal description of
the real property to which the mobile home has been affixed.
c)
A statement that the mobile home has not been assessed and
taxed in this state as personal property or a document containing information
regarding the persons to whom the last tax statement for the mobile home was
sent.
d) The name of the holder
of any security interests in the mobile home not terminated by the consent of
the secured party that is contained in the affidavit of affixture and the
original amount secured by the security interest.
e) As an attachment, a
receipt issued by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) regarding a
mobile home’s certificate of title.
5.
Specifes that recording an affidavit of affixture does not
impair the rights of a holder of a perfected security interest in the mobile
home unless the affidavit of affixture contains the acknowledged consent of the
secured party to the termination of the security interest.
6.
Requires a certificate of compliance or a waiver issued by
the Office of Manufactured Housing on a mobile home that enters this state for
sale or installation to be submitted with the affidavit of affixture.
7.
Allows a landlord under a lease who also owns the real
property on which a mobile home is located to record a notice and affidavit
terminating an affidavit of affixture if the lease has been terminated before
its expiration. Requires the landlord to attach to the notice and affidavit one
of the following:
a) An agreement executed
between the landlord and tenant terminating the lease.
b) A copy of a court
judgment for forcible detainer upholding the termination of the lease and
awarding possession to the landlord.
c) An affidavit of the
landlord stating the mobile home has been removed from the real property.
8.
Requires ADOT to retitle the mobile home to the owner on
presentation of specified documentation at any time after the landlord records
a terminating document of the affidavit of affixture.
9.
Requires that a mobile home and the real property to which
it is affixed be assessed as real property from the recording of the affidavit
of affixture until its termination.
10.
Requires that the owner of a mobile home be treated as the
owner of the real property to which the mobile home is affixed as long as the
affidavit of affixture remains effective.
11.
Requires a landlord and a successor tenant to execute an
amended memorandum of the lease if the identity of the tenant changes during
the term of the lease.
12.
Specifies that on recording the amended memorandum of
lease in the case of a new tenant, the successor tenant succeeds to the rights
and obligations of the owner under the affidavit of affixture.
13.
Provides for a general effective date.
CED 3/18/02 DPA/SE 9-0-0-1
WM 3/28/02 DPA/SE 8-0-0-2
3rd Read 04/08/02 49-1-10-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 15, 2002