Minnesota · Manufactured homesMinnesota manufactured home affixed to land: title cancellation and the affidavit of affixation

In Minnesota a manufactured home is titled as personal property until the owner takes the steps that make it part of the land. It becomes an improvement to real property, no longer titled as personal property, when three things happen: it is affixed or to be affixed to the real property as defined in Minn. Stat. §273.125, subd. 8, paragraph (b); the certificate of title is surrendered and canceled, or the manufacturer's certificate of origin is canceled; and an affidavit of affixation in the statutory form is recorded with the county recorder or registrar of titles, which must accept it and inform the county auditor that the home is taxed with the land. The commissioner can't cancel a certificate of title if a security interest in the home has been perfected – each secured party must release or satisfy it first – and affixing the home or recording the affidavit without canceling the title doesn't extinguish an otherwise valid security interest or tax lien. A lost certificate can be canceled on a written request with the serial number (Minn. Stat. §168A.1412). Going the other way, the department reissues a certificate of title for a home severed from the land only with a recorded affidavit of severance, an attorney's opinion on the title and encumbrances, and a county statement that current-year property taxes are paid (Minn. Stat. §168A.142).