Can You Sell a Mobile Home Without a Title in Arkansas?

There are two problems that get called the same thing, and they're not the same at all.

The first one is a lost document. The state record still says you own the home. You just can't find the paper. Maybe you moved, maybe a folder got soaked, maybe it walked off during a divorce. This is the easy one.

The second one is an ownership gap. The record points at somebody else. Your dad, an ex-spouse, a seller from 1998, a lender who got paid off but never filed the release. Nothing is wrong with the home. The paper trail just has a hole in it, and the hole has to get patched before anybody can buy it from you.

Almost every seller who calls us convinced they've got a hopeless title mess turns out to have the first problem, or a mild version of the second one.

Arkansas gives you a deadline. A mobile home has to be titled and registered within 30 calendar days of the date of transfer, or within 30 days of the date a prior lien is released, whichever is later.

So if a lien got paid off after the sale, the clock runs from the lien release, not from the day money changed hands. Write both dates down. That is the first thing anyone at the revenue office is going to ask about.

If you are the owner of record and the paper is gone, you apply for a replacement title. A replacement title costs $10, you apply at any state revenue office, and you should allow at least three weeks for processing.

If more than one owner is listed on the title and the names are joined by AND, every one of those owners has to sign the application. If one of them has passed away or you cannot reach them, say so up front, because that changes what the office needs from you.

These rules come from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Read their replacement title page before you drive anywhere, and call your county revenue office about anything that depends on the county, because that part varies from one county to the next.

Take this with you:

An old loan that never got released is one of the most common holdups we see. It does not stop you, it just adds a step.

When a lien holder is listed, the state contacts them and gives them 10 business days to respond. If they do not respond, the title gets printed for the owner. If they come back and say the lien release is not valid, the duplicate goes to the lien holder instead of to you.

That is worth knowing before you start, because it tells you where to put your energy. If you have a payoff letter or a release from that lender sitting in a folder somewhere, find it now.

Arkansas charges penalties when the paperwork runs past the deadline. The late registration penalty is $3 for each 10 day period. The late sales tax penalty is 10 percent of the amount due.

None of that is a reason to give up on a home. It is a reason to get moving instead of letting it sit another year.

Say you do not have weeks to spare. Lot rent is running, taxes are stacking up, or the home is sitting empty and getting worse. You still have moves.

One, start the title work and talk to buyers at the same time. The two do not have to happen in order. We will look at a home while the paperwork is still in motion and tell you where we stand.

Two, let the buyer carry the paperwork. When we buy a home with a title problem, we handle the filing as part of the purchase.

Three, get the ownership question answered before you spend money on anything else. Do not put a new roof on a home you cannot prove you own yet.

And anywhere a step depends on your county, call your county revenue office and ask. Two counties can handle the same situation a little differently, and one phone call beats a wasted trip.