Expert: Dick Dennis - 5/2/2009

Question
Hi, i own a mobile home and am in the process of buying a new house. my mobile home is in a park on land that i rent and is not on a foundation. i do not have a deed but rather a title i got from the DMV/BMV here in ohio. although this is my principal residence i am being told that this mobile home is considered personal property and not real property because of the lack of a foundation. it is also a 1974 which was built before the "United States department of housing and urban development manufactured home construction and safety standards act" of 1976 was enacted which means that by definition it is a mobile home not a manufactured/mobile home as the feds consider them the same after 1976. im wondering if i qualify for the first time home owners credit of $8,000 seeing the home i purchased is $90,000. the verbiage used in the rules of the tax credit is "principal residence" but i have come across court cases that have said it cannot be a principal residence if it is not fixed to a real property therefore considered to be transient. i continue to get conflicting answers on whether or not my mobile home that still has the wheels attached is considered a principal residence , a real property or if i am considered a home owner. Please help! thanks Bart

Answer
You virtually answered your own question, Bart. Yes, I agree with everything you offered. YOU ARE A FIRST-TIME BUYER. Gee, whiz, if nothing else, the fact that you pay rent on the land of your residence should indicate that you qualify as a first-time buyer. If I were you, I would just proceed like you are ignorant of all the facts that you offered here. Indeed, a mobile home is a DMV personal property item, just like your car. Proceed, my good man. I wish you well.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com