Mobile Home Foreclosure Leaves Banks On The Lot

When mobile homes were first being sold, most did not qualify for traditional mortgages, as most lenders treated them much the same a vehicle sales. After all, a buyer who could not make their payments could hook them up to a truck and drive them away to avoid mobile home foreclosure. However, as more people began buying mobile homes and they became more a part of the landscape, lenders became more acceptable to providing financing and when a homeowner could not make their payments, mobile home foreclosure began as opposed to repossession as in auto loans.

Typically, the price of a mobile home is considerably less than a traditional home and during a mobile home foreclosure, the land on which it is located, is usually not included in the sale. This type of unique situation exists because the home can be bought and moved by a new owner and the land sold separately by the mortgage holder. Additionally, homes reclaimed during a mobile home foreclosure can be moved to a sales lot and sold as used and not necessarily by auction.

Loan Determines How Money Is Collected

Credit collection laws may vary slightly by state, but federal laws also govern the process of disposing of property confiscated in a mortgage foreclosure. With the homes being on wheels, moving them off the property may also reduce their value, especially if the new buyer is putting them into a mobile home community instead of on private land.

Depending on the type of financing obtained by the original buyer, the mobile home foreclosure process will be similar to the foreclosure process of a traditional home. The lender has to go to the local court and show that the borrower has not fulfilled their financial obligation and the only way for the lender to be repaid is to have the court sell the property on their behalf. Once approved for sale, the mobile home is put on the auction block and any money over what is owed on the home goes to the owner.

Despite being similar to repossession of a vehicle, if the home loan was granted in the form of a mortgage in partnership with the land on which it sits, the land and home may be sold together. However, in most instances of a mobile home foreclosure the land can be sold separately, unless it is a part of the original loan with the value of the land included in the collateral for the purchase of the mobile home.