California manufactured home in a mobile home park with steps and skirting

HCD title transfer · All of California

Mobile Home Title Transfer,
prepared for HCD

A mobile home title is not a deed. It is held by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and HCD will reject a transfer that is missing a tax clearance, an original title, or a signature. We prepare the whole packet for a flat $325 — sale, death, divorce, or into your living trust.

Start My Title Transfer → (408) 766-3532
$325Flat preparation fee
StatewideEvery California county
LDA #268Registered & bonded

What happens after you click

  1. A ten-minute form online — the decal number, the current owners, and who the home is going to. No payment to start.
  2. We review it, confirm your fee, and email a secure payment link.
  3. We request the tax clearance from your County Tax Collector — you collect it and pay the county directly.
  4. We send the completed HCD packet with a signing checklist. You sign, attach the original title, and mail it with your check to HCD.

Our part takes one to two business days. Flat $325 for the preparation; HCD’s transfer fees, any use tax, and the county’s tax clearance charge are paid by you to those agencies at cost. See every flat fee →

Start My Title Transfer Call (408) 766-3532

Why your mobile home has a title, not a deed

If you own a house, ownership lives in a deed recorded with your County Recorder. A manufactured or mobile home works differently. It carries a decal number and a Certificate of Title held by HCD — closer to how the DMV handles a vehicle than how a county handles real estate.

That is why a mobile home title does not transfer automatically when land changes hands, and why the deed process we use for houses does not apply here. Different agency, different forms, different order of operations.

Family standing outside their California manufactured home after a completed title transfer

Check your decal number first

The letter your decal starts with decides which HCD form set applies. It is the first thing we ask for, and getting it wrong is the most common reason a packet comes back.

Decal begins with A

The home is on yearly registration renewal, sometimes called in-lieu taxation. Usually an older home. Renewal is handled by the state rather than your county.

Decal begins with L

The home is on the local property tax roll and you pay annual property tax to your county. Usually a newer home. This is the more common set today.

DMV pink slip instead

Some older homes are still titled with the DMV rather than HCD, and a multi-section home will have a separate pink slip for each section.

On a permanent foundation

Once a home is installed on an approved foundation system, HCD registration is cancelled and it transfers by recorded deed like any house. We handle that route too.

The five steps, start to new title

There is no electronic shortcut here. HCD needs the physical original title, a paper application, and a check — so the value is in getting the packet right the first time.

1

You tell us about the home

Decal number, the owners printed on the title, and who the home is going to. About ten minutes online, and no payment is required to begin.

2

We request your tax clearance

HCD will not process a transfer without a tax clearance certificate confirming the property taxes are current. We request it from your County Tax Collector; you collect it and pay the county’s charge directly. It is valid for 60 days, so we time the rest of the packet around it.

3

We prepare the HCD forms

The HCD transfer application plus whatever your situation adds — a transfer without probate certificate, a trust ownership form, or a duplicate title application if the original is lost.

4

You sign and mail the packet

We send it with a checklist showing exactly where each person signs. You attach the original Certificate of Title and Registration Card and mail it to HCD in Sacramento with a check for their fees.

5

HCD issues the new title

HCD processes the transfer and mails the new title and registration card to the new owner. Processing time is set by HCD, not by us.

Mobile home owner signing HCD title transfer paperwork prepared by TruPoint Legal

Situations we prepare every week

Each of these uses a different HCD form set. You tell us which fits; we prepare it from there.

Private party sale

You are buying or selling a home directly, without a dealer. Use tax applies unless an exemption is documented.

After an owner dies

Once 40 days have passed and the estate does not otherwise need probate, HCD accepts a transfer without probate certificate with a certified death certificate.

Surviving spouse

A community property interest passes to the surviving spouse without administration. A shorter route than the probate-free certificate.

Divorce or separation

Removing a former spouse from the title after a judgment or marital settlement agreement.

Into a living trust

Your trust only protects what has been transferred into it. If you also own the land, we prepare the trust transfer deed alongside it.

Adding or removing a name

Putting an adult child on the title, or taking a co-owner off. The same intent as adding someone to a deed, on a different form.

Buyer and seller shaking hands after a California mobile home ownership transfer

What we will need from you

The decal number

Starts with A or L, or a DMV plate. It tells us which form set applies before anything else.

The original Certificate of Title

Signed by every owner printed on it. If it is lost, a duplicate can be applied for — $25 to HCD — and we include that application in the same packet.

The Registration Card

The last one issued. A duplicate application covers a lost card, also $25 to HCD.

Names as they should appear

Exactly how the new owners want to hold the home, and a certified death certificate if the transfer follows a death.

Handing over keys after a completed California mobile home title transfer with HCD

Questions people ask before starting

How do I transfer a mobile home title in California?
You send the signed original Certificate of Title and Registration Card to HCD together with the completed HCD transfer application and a tax clearance certificate from your County Tax Collector. HCD will not accept the transfer without all three. We prepare the forms, request the tax clearance on your behalf, and give you an assembled packet with a checklist showing exactly what to sign and where to mail it.
Why can’t a mobile home title be recorded electronically?
Because it is not a deed. A mobile home title is held by California HCD, not your County Recorder, and HCD requires the physical original title along with a paper application and a check. There is no e-recording path. That is the one part of this process nobody can speed up.
How much does a mobile home title transfer cost in California?
Our preparation fee is a flat $325 for the whole packet. HCD’s own transfer fees, any use tax on a sale, and the County Tax Collector’s charge for the tax clearance are paid by you directly to those agencies. We never mark those up.
What is a mobile home tax clearance certificate and do I need one?
It is a certificate from your County Tax Collector confirming the property taxes on the home are current. HCD will reject a transfer without it. It is valid for 60 days, so timing matters. We request it for you, but you collect it and pay the county’s charge directly.
What does the decal number on my mobile home mean?
If your decal begins with the letter A, the home is on yearly registration renewal, sometimes called in-lieu taxation, and is usually an older home. If it begins with L, the home is on the local property tax roll with your county. The two use different HCD forms, which is why we ask for the decal number up front.
Can I transfer a mobile home title after the owner has died?
Yes, and often without probate. Once 40 days have passed since the death and the estate does not otherwise require probate, HCD accepts a transfer-without-probate certificate with a certified death certificate. A surviving spouse or a named transfer-on-death beneficiary has a more direct route. Tell us which applies and we prepare that version.
Can I put my mobile home into my living trust?
Yes. HCD has a separate form set for changing ownership into the name of a trust, and which one applies depends on whether your home is on yearly registration renewal or on the local property tax roll. We prepare the correct one alongside the trust transfer deed if you also own the land.
What if I lost the original mobile home title?
The transfer cannot proceed without it, but a duplicate can be applied for, for the title or the registration card. Each carries a $25 application fee paid to HCD. We include the duplicate application in your packet so it moves in one submission.
How long does a mobile home title transfer take in California?
Our part takes one to two business days once you send the details. After that the timeline belongs to two agencies: the County Tax Collector issuing your tax clearance, and HCD processing the mailed packet. HCD processing times vary, so we prepare the packet to be right first time rather than promise a date we do not control.
Do I need to come to your office?
No. We work with mobile home owners across California by email and phone. You sign where the packet shows, have signatures notarized if the form requires it, and mail the packet with your check to HCD in Sacramento.
My double-wide has two titles. Is that normal?
It can be. A home titled with HCD has one Certificate of Title regardless of how many sections it has, but a home still on a DMV pink slip has a separate slip for each section. A double-wide on pink slips will have two. Send us what you have and we will tell you which set applies.
Can you help if the taxes on the home are behind?
The County Tax Collector will not issue a tax clearance until the taxes are current, so that has to be resolved before HCD will accept the transfer. We can prepare everything else so the packet is ready to move the day your clearance is issued.

Send us the decal number, we take it from there

Flat $325 to prepare the packet. No payment to begin, and nothing is charged until you have approved the fee.

Start My Title Transfer → Call (408) 766-3532

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