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General Information
Before July 1, 1980, mobile homes (also known as manufactured homes) in California were treated as vehicles, subject to taxation through "in-lieu license fees" imposed by the State of California, Department of Motor Vehicles in place of ad-valorem property taxation. The Mobile home Property Tax Law of 1980 provided a system of taxing mobile homes in a similar manner as conventional homes. Since then, assessments of mobile homes subject to local property tax have been placed on the secured tax roll and billed in two installments, notwithstanding the fact that mobile homes are actually personal property whose taxes are often not secured by land.
The responsibility for collecting mobile home license fees was initially vested with the
Department of Motor Vehicles. This responsibility was transferred to the State of California
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) as of July 1, 1981. Mobile homes sold after July 1, 1980 become subject to the Mobile home Property Tax Law administered by county tax officials.
For additional information, please refer to the
Mobile homes & Manufactured Homes page on the County Assessor's Website.
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Sale or Transfer of Title or Location
(Application for Tax Clearance Certificate)
HCD requires a Tax Clearance Certificate to be issued by the Tax Collector's Office before a change of title is allowed when a mobile home is sold or moved out of Sacramento County. The process to change the ownership of a Mobile home requires filing a Tax Clearance Certificate with HCD. After HCD has processed the change in ownership, the Assessor's Office will be notified to change the ownership record on the assessment roll. This can take up to several months to complete.
HCD will not transfer title of a used manufactured home, mobile home or floating home which is subject to local property tax without the presentation of a Tax Clearance Certificate issued by the tax collector of the county where the manufactured home, mobile home, or floating home is located. A release of liability will not change ownership.
The purpose of the Tax Clearance Certificate is to provide verification to HCD that as of the date of issuance, all taxes then discovered have been paid. In addition to collecting outstanding taxes existing on the mobile home, estimated or known taxes for the following fiscal year must be collected from January 1, to November 1, prior to issuing the Tax Clearance Certificate. The Tax Clearance Certificate must be processed by the Department of Housing and Community Development who changes the ownership records and notifies the Sacramento County Assessor's Office of the change so that ownership information can be updated.
If you are NO LONGER the owner, but received a secured tax bill for the mobile home, did you file a Tax Clearance Certificate with HCD?
If YES, and you filed less than six (6) months ago, please forward the annual property tax bill to the new owner along with this information. If you filed more than six (6) months ago, please contact HCD at https://www.hcd.ca.gov, 1800 Third Street, P.O. Box 2111, Sacramento, CA 95812-2111, or (916) 445-4782 or 1-800-952-8356 to inquire into the status of processing your change in ownership.
If NO, and you have not filed a Tax Clearance Certificate with HCD, the change in ownership cannot be processed and you will continue to receive and be responsible for the property tax bills. You will need to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate from the Tax Collector and file it with HCD before a change in ownership can be processed on the assessment roll. Please contact the Tax Collector's Office between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays at (916) 874-7833 to request an
Application for a Tax Clearance Certificate be mailed to you or print an
application online, fill out and mail the application or bring to: Sacramento County Tax Collector, 700 H Street, Room 1710, Sacramento, CA 95814.
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Delinquent Mobile home Taxes
Mobile home property taxes are treated as secured property taxes during the current tax year. Annual property tax bills are mailed only once each year by November 1st and are due and delinquent the same dates every year. You may pay the total tax as shown on the tax bill without penalty on or before the December 10 or pay in two equal installments. If you elect to pay in two installments, the first installment must be paid on or before December 10 to avoid penalties and the second installment must be paid on or before April 10 to avoid penalties. PLEASE NOTE: A REMINDER NOTICE OR BILL WILL NOT BE SENT OUT FOR THE SECOND INSTALLMENT PAYMENT.
If the tax bill is not paid by June 30, the taxes will be transferred to the unsecured tax roll for collection. An additional 1½% of the base amount of the tax bill is attaches on the first day of each month thereafter together with any actual costs of collection incurred by the county up to the time the delinquency is paid.
Failure to pay property taxes on a Mobile home may result in a summary judgment being filed and recorded against the owner of record on the assessment roll by the Tax Collector to enforce the collection of the unpaid property tax bill. If you are unsure if you have a summary judgment recorded against you for a mobile home you previously or currently own, please contact the Unsecured Property Tax Unit at the letterhead address above, or by phone between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays at (916) 874-7833.
