A real property owner may treat a manufactured home as abandoned only after sending required notice, waiting 45 days, and meeting the listed conditions.
Sec. 1201.217. MANUFACTURED HOME ABANDONED. (a) The owner of real property on which a manufactured home owned by another is located may declare the home abandoned as provided by this section if: (1) the home has been continuously unoccupied for at least four months; and (2) any indebtedness secured by the home or related to a lease agreement between the owner of the real property and the owner of the home is considered delinquent. (b) Before declaring a manufactured home abandoned, the owner of real property on which the home is located must send a notice of intent to declare the home abandoned to the record owner of the home, all lienholders at the addresses listed on the home's statement of ownership on file with the department, the tax collector for each taxing unit that imposes ad valorem taxes on the real property where the home is located, and any intervening owners of liens or equitable interests. The notice must include the address where the home is currently located. If the person giving such notice knows that a person to whom the notice is being given no longer resides and is no longer receiving mail at a known address, a reasonable effort shall be made to locate the person and give the person notice at an address where the person is receiving mail. Mailing of the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to the persons required to be notified by this subsection constitutes conclusive proof of compliance with this subsection. (c) On receipt of a notice of intent to declare a manufactured home abandoned, the record owner of the home, a lienholder, a tax assessor-collector for a taxing unit that imposes ad valorem taxes on the real property on which the home is located, or an intervening owner of a lien or equitable interest may enter the real property on which the home is located to remove the home. The real property owner must disclose to the record owner, lienholder, tax assessor-collector, or intervening owner seeking to remove the home the location of the home and grant the person reasonable access to the home. A person removing a home is responsible to the real property owner for any damage to the real property resulting from the removal of the home. (d) If the manufactured home remains on the real property for at least 45 days after the date the notice is postmarked: (1) all liens on the home are extinguished; and (2) the real property owner may declare the home abandoned and may apply to the department for a statement of ownership listing the real property owner as the owner of the manufactured home. (d-1) When applying for a statement of ownership under this section, the real property owner shall include with the application an affidavit stating that: (1) the person owns the real property where the manufactured home is located; and (2) the name of the person to whom title to the home will be transferred under this section is the same name that is listed in the real property or tax records indicating the current ownership of the real property. (e) A new statement of ownership issued by the department under this section transfers, free of any liens, if there is evidence of United States Postal Service return receipt from all lienholders, title to the manufactured home to the real property owner. (f) This section does not apply if the person who owns the real property on which the manufactured home is located and who is declaring that the home is abandoned, or any person who is related to or affiliated with that person, has now, or has ever owned, an interest in the manufactured home. (g) Notwithstanding Subsection (f), an owner of real property on which a manufactured home has been abandoned may apply for a new statement of ownership with respect to a home that was previously declared abandoned and then resold and abandoned again. Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1284 (H.B. 2438), Sec. 17, eff. June 18, 2005. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 863 (H.B. 1460), Sec. 31, eff. January 1, 2008. Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 77 (H.B. 2238), Sec. 10, eff. September 1, 2009. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 46 (H.B. 1510), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 408 (H.B. 2019), Sec. 43, eff. September 1, 2017.