Expert: Dick Dennis - 6/15/2011

Question
I purchased some land 15 years ago and paid off, before I put a mobile home on it. a few years after purchase of mobile home I was in a bad auto accident and refinanced. Last year i lost my job and was late on payments, I was trying to pay catch up and when i called to make the two payments, the lender would not accept. Said i was in foreclosure. i still haven't received official notice. My question is this. I was sent the title to the mobile home stating it was paid off no liens, their mistake. There is no lien showing on the land. i have requested and yet to receive a copy of anything I signed, tried for a few years on that and gave up. It's like they are trying to force me to do a loan modification, said they would fast track me. I don't want to do one. Can they take this property? I want to pay , but they refused, and have done some things that i feel were borderline illegal to put me in foreclosure. I think just the trailer is on the refinance.

Answer
To make sure I understand you, Jan, you paid cash for the land, therefore, the real estate is totally yours. Then you put a mobile home on the land. But you did not indicate that you put a foundation under the mobile home to connect AND BE A PART OF THE REAL ESTATE. Therefore, the mobile home, like you said, has the only loan (lien) you had on your property. The mobile home is not real estate. They cannot foreclose on the land because you paid cash for it (assuming you have paid your real estate taxes on it each year you have owned it) . . . unless you refinanced the land and mobile home together.

But that is not likely, because banks will not make a loan on a mobile home AND land without a foundation to connect the two together. I am sure you have a certificate of some kind from the DMV for the mobile home. You pay your taxes on it like you do with your car . . . to the state. When the mobile home is actually connected to the land via a foundation, then the mobile home becomes real estate, too.

Based on all that information, if it was me, I would go out and buy another mobile home and connect it to the land with a legitimate foundation (you would have to get a permit from the county and your taxes will rise according to the value of both), then I would call the bank and tell them I was sick and tired of playing games with them and tell them to come and take the mobile home that they say that is in foreclosure.

My bet is that they will listen to you more closely and accept your checks. If you tell them that they can have the financed mobile home and you are going to put another one on the land, yes, my bet is that they will stop playing games with you. If you don't want to do a modification, you don't have to. I do wish you well, Jan.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com