Bulletin: MA000007

Dear Associates:

A manufactured home (manufactured housing unit) is personal property, which can be subject to both the issuance of certificates of title by the registry of motor vehicles and/or financing statements under the Uniform Commercial Code.; Simply placing such a unit upon a parcel of land, even if it is "annexed" to the land, does not necessarily result in it losing its identity as personal property or ridding itself of these "personal property" filings.

When a manufactured housing unit is placed upon land, the owner or lender may request an ALTA Endorsement 7.0, which is an endorsement that essentially extends the definition of "land" in the policy to include the manufactured housing unit that is on the property.; If that housing unit is subject to a certificate of title or a financing statement, but no exception for these matters is taken in the policy or the same have not been canceled (in the case of a certificate of title) or terminated (in the case of a financing statement), a problem can immediately arise under the policy: since the ALTA endorsement has included the unit within the ambit of the definition of the "land" that is insured under the policy, there would be coverage under the policy for these outstanding personal property interests.

When issuing the ALTA 7.0 endorsement, the Guidelines (see the link at the bottom of the endorsement on this site) should be strictly observed.

Please contact a Stewart Massachusetts underwriter if you have any questions concerning this or any other topic for which you need assistance.