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Moving Manufactured Homes

Delinquent Tax Report Needed for Moving Permit

Effective September 1, 2001, chief appraisers are required to issue statements of delinquent taxes on manufactured homes upon request. A statement showing no delinquent taxes on a manufactured home is necessary for a person to obtain a permit to move that home to another location

Delinquent tax statement

House Bill (H.B.) 468 amends Section 32.03 to address property tax liens on manufactured homes. Liens filed before January 1, 2001, with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, are notice to the purchaser that the lien existed.

For tax years that begin on or after January 1, 2001, a bona fide purchaser is not required to pay any taxes on the manufactured home if the county's chief appraiser has issued a written statement that no unpaid taxes have been reported on the manufactured home. This statement of taxes is necessary for a permit to transport the manufactured home.

Any person may request a written statement from the chief appraiser for notice of any taxes on a manufactured home. The written request states the requestor's name, manufactured home's location, and the address to send the chief appraiser's statement about taxes.

To reply to a request, the chief appraiser asks each taxing unit's collector if any taxes are due on the home and gives a date to respond. The chief appraiser has five days to respond to a written request and may rely on a tax certificate, written statement, tax bill, or copy of a tax bill from a taxing unit's collector. If unpaid taxes are due, the chief appraiser shall include the amount of taxes due and the name and address of the taxing unit's collector. The chief appraiser shall state if no response was received from a taxing unit by the time the chief appraiser issues the statement of taxes.

The chief appraiser may charge a fee not to exceed $10 for each statement requested. By contract, the chief appraiser and county tax assessor/collector may agree that the county tax assessor/collector receive requests and issue these statements of taxes on manufactured homes.

Moving permit

H.B. 468 also amends Transportation Code Section 623.093 to require persons transporting a manufactured home to obtain a permit from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), accompanied by proof of no unpaid property taxes on the home.

This permit is not required for moving a manufactured home from a manufacturer's or a retailer's location as the result of an original sale, exchange, or lease-purchase to a consumer.

The proof of no unpaid taxes is a statement from the chief appraiser for the county in which the manufactured home is located.

If the manufactured home is not listed on the most recent appraisal roll, the application for the moving permit must include evidence that the manufactured home was moved into the county after January 1 of the current year or a certificate from the appraisal district that the manufactured home's owner or another person has provided information to list the home in the appraisal district's supplemental records.

A written statement from the chief appraiser is not required if a copy of a court's writ of possession accompanies the permit application.

Quarterly, TxDOT shall send each chief appraiser a copy of each permit issued to transport a manufactured home in the appraiser's county.

Transportation Code Section 623.104 sets the penalty for moving a manufactured home without a TxDOT permit as punishable by a fine of $500, payable to the jurisdiction issuing the citation.

Current taxes

Tax Code Section 33.21 states that a taxing unit's collector may seize a person's personal property for the payment of a tax imposed on the property before the tax becomes delinquent if the collector discovers that taxes are or will be imposed on the property about to be removed from the county.

A collector may apply at any time to the courts for a tax warrant authorizing seizure of the property if the collector shows by affidavit that the personal property is about to be removed from the county and the person owns no other personal property in the county that may satisfy the taxes due.

Because many of the manufactured homes may be leaving the county, the chief appraiser may complete a form to report current taxes due on the property. These taxes are not delinquent and, therefore, are not part of the delinquent tax statement.

If the taxing unit has not imposed current taxes on the property, the chief appraiser (or county collector) will estimate the taxes due. After the taxing unit sets the current year's tax rate, the unit will send the owner a bill for any additional taxes due or send a refund of overpaid current taxes.

Model forms

To assist the chief appraiser in these duties, the Comptroller has prescribed four model forms dealing with the statement of unpaid and current taxes on a manufactured home. The PDF forms are listed below. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will need to download the latest version to view and print the forms.

  • Comptroller Form No. 50-292, Request for Statement of Unpaid Taxes on Manufactured Home. This form is one that a person requesting a statement completes and files with the appraisal district (or county tax office if by contract), along with the filing fee. The chief appraiser must respond within five days.

  • Comptroller Form No. 50-293, Request to Taxing Unit for Statement of Unpaid Taxes on Manufactured Home. This form is one that the chief appraiser (or county tax collector) sends to each taxing unit that taxes that manufactured home to report any delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest on that home.

  • Comptroller Form No. 50-294, Statement of Unpaid Taxes on Manufactured Home. This form is the statement that the chief appraiser (or county collector) reports any delinquent taxes on the manufactured home. If there are no delinquent taxes, the statement shows $0.

  • Comptroller Form No. 50-295, Schedule A: Statement of Current Taxes on Manufactured Home. This is an extra report attached to the Statement of Unpaid Taxes on Manufactured Home to report on current taxes due or an estimate of current taxes that will be due when tax bills are mailed.

For more information or a copy of these forms, contact the Property Tax Division's Technical Assistance at ptd.cpa@cpa.state.tx.us, or call 1-800-252-9121. In Austin, call 512/305-9999.