Manufactured Homes FAQs

Affixation is the process of recording (with the Department of Revenue) that a manufactured home has been converted to real property.

If you want to record your manufactured home as affixed, you must submit the following items to any Missouri license office:

1. A completed Affidavit of Affixation (Form 5312);

   NOTE: The Form 5312 must be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds Office within 60 days of filing with the Department of Revenue.

2. The proper ownership document(s); and
   • The current Certificate of title or Manufacture’s Certificate of Origin (MCO) properly assigned over to you, accompanied by a completed Application for Surrender of Title or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin (MCO) (Form 5315); or
   • A completed Application for Confirmation of Conversion (Form 5314) certified by a licensed title insurance agent or an attorney-at-law if no certificate of title or MCO exists.
3. The appropriate transaction fees:
   • $8.50 affixation fee;
   • $6.00 processing fee; and
   • State and local tax, if applicable.

   NOTE: Title penalties are not applicable in the affixation process.

Once a manufactured home has been recorded as affixed with the Department of Revenue, a title cannot be issued until the manufactured home is severed from the real property and the severance is recorded with the Department of Revenue.

Severance is the process of obtaining a title on a manufactured home which had been previously recorded as affixed in the Department’s titling system and is being removed (severed) from a permanent foundation.

To obtain a title on a manufactured home through the severance process, you must submit the following items at any Missouri license office:

1. A completed Affidavit of Severance (Form 5313); and

   NOTE: The Form 5313 must be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds Office within 60 days of filing with the Department of Revenue.

2. The appropriate transaction fees:
   • $8.50 title fee;
   • $6.00 processing fee; and
   • State and local tax, if applicable.

   NOTE: Title penalties are not applicable in the severance process.

Review the following list to determine what state and local tax is due:

• New Units NOT previously converted to real property:
  • If you purchased the new manufactured home from a Missouri dealer and the dealer failed to collect the tax, state and local sales tax will be assessed on 60% of the purchase price:
    • The local sales tax rate is based on the seller’s address. Refer to the Local Sales Tax Rate Chart.
    • This includes any manufactured home purchased by a Missouri resident from a Missouri dealer where the home’s manufacturer is located out-of-state and delivers the home directly to the Missouri purchaser.
  • If you purchased the new manufactured home from an out-of-state dealer, state compensating use tax and local option use tax is assessed on 60% of the purchase price:
    • The local option use tax rate is based on the address where the manufactured home is first delivered in Missouri (if applicable). Refer to the Local Option Use Tax Rate Chart.
    • If the out-of-state dealer collected tax at a rate greater than Missouri’s state compensating use tax rate (4.225%) plus the local option use tax, tax is not due.
• New Units Previously Converted to Real Property:
  • If you purchased the new manufactured home from a Missouri dealer and taxes were never paid to Missouri, state and local sales tax must be collected on the 60% of the purchase price.
  • If you purchased the new manufactured home from an out-of-state dealer, state compensating tax and local option use tax is due on 60% of the purchase price based on the address where the manufactured home is first delivered in Missouri (if applicable). Refer to the Local Option Use Tax Rate Chart.

If you have lost or never received the Certificate of Affixation, you may request a duplicate copy by contacting the Department of Revenue at (573) 526-3669 or you can Ask Motor Vehicle!

The Affidavit of Affixation must be recorded within 60 days of delivery to the Department (Sections 700.111, RSMo).

The affixation and severance paperwork may be submitted for processing at any Missouri license office or, by mail, to the Motor Vehicle Bureau, PO Box 100, Jefferson City, MO 65105-0100.

The “Surrendered Ownership Document Information” is based on the actual document being surrendered, regardless of what is currently reflected in the Department’s records. If the Department’s records are in conflict with the surrendered document information, the recorded Affidavit of Affixation documentation supersedes and the Department will history any existing record on the manufactured home.

The Department assumes all questions regarding ownership have been mitigated through the land title research performed on the real estate title transaction. The recorded Affidavit of Affixation ownership interest supersedes any record of ownership contained in the Department’s records on the manufactured home.

A duplicate title from the previous owner is not required.

The owner identified on the Affidavit of Affixation is not required to surrender a title if it is not in his or her possession. The confirmation of conversion document and the process completed by an attorney or agent of a title insurance company will validate that the owner on the Affidavit of Affixation has the proper ownership interest.

The purpose of the Application for Surrender of Title or Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin (MCO) (Form 5315) is not to obtain a certificate of title. Form 5315 is used to document that the person identified on the form has either a title or an MCO to the manufactured home and the title or MCO has been properly surrendered in compliance with the law. A title is not a mandatory document required to be surrendered to facilitate the affixation process. If no title is available, a properly completed Application for Confirmation of Conversion (Form 5314) will confirm the applicant’s ownership interest in the manufactured home.

Section 700.320, RSMo prohibits the issuance of a certificate of title once the manufactured home has been recorded as affixed in the records of the Department. A title can only be issued on a manufactured home which has been recorded as affixed in the Department’s records when the homeowner completes the severance process as outlined in Section 700.111, RSMo.

Yes. The Department will record the “title type” on the manufactured home record as “Affixed”. This will appear on the NOL record inquiry response.

If using the NOL record inquiry, you would perform an inquiry on the manufactured home as described above. If recorded as real property, the title type will be “Affixed”. All other title types provided in the inquiry response will indicate the status of a title record. The fees are automatically collected through your subscription to the NOL inquiry system.

If making a written request, the Department requires various forms to be completed in order to ensure privacy regulations are met. The form that must be completed will depend on whether or not the requestor already has a security access code to obtain record information. You may review Forms 4678, 4681, 4803, 5091 (which are used for obtaining record information) on the Forms and Manuals page of our website to determine the appropriate form for your situation.

The fee for a written request is $2.82.

According to the Missouri Manufactured Housing Association, the identification or serial number should be located:

1. On the left side of the front crossmember. This location is required by Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and is the preferred location to find the identification or serial number. It is a violation of the federal HUD Standard to remove the identification or serial number from this front crossmember; or
2. On the data plate inside manufactured home. This plate will list the manufacturer, serial number, and other data that is specific to a manufactured home.  The most likely locations of a data plate in a manufactured home are:
   • Inside cabinet door under kitchen sink;
   • Inside one of the other kitchen cabinet doors;
   • Inside one of the bedroom closets on the inside of the closet door or on he closet wall; or
   • Utility room – inside or next to the electric panel box

If the identification or serial number cannot be found in the locations listed above and if the HUD labels are still on the home (located on the rear non-hitch end of home), you may provide the HUD label numbers to HUD to request the identification or serial number. There may be a charge for these requests.

If the manufactured home was ever titled in Missouri, you may be able to obtain the identification or serial number from the Department of Revenue using the previous owner’s name.

The Manufactured Housing Division within the Public Service Commission (PSC) can be very helpful in assisting homeowners to locate the identification or serial number.  You may contact the PSC Manufactured Housing Division at 1-800-819-3180, or visit the PSC Manufactured Housing Division web page.