The redemption period on a mobile home on leased land is a different clock than the one on fee simple property, and most certificate buyers miss it
A tax lien certificate on a mobile home sitting on a rented lot has two problems running at once. The mobile home is personal property in most states, titled through the DMV or a similar agency, and the land underneath it belongs to someone else entirely. When the county sells a certificate on the mobile home's assessed value, the redemption period that applies may follow the personal property statute, which in several states is shorter than the real property period and triggers different notice requirements. That is the first thing worth pulling up before bidding, because the foreclosure path runs through a different courthouse process and sometimes a different court.
The land lease is the second problem. If the lot lease terminates, through non-payment or the park owner's own tax trouble or a sale, the mobile home can be relocated or condemned. A certificate holder has a claim against a depreciating asset that can literally be moved away from whatever location made it worth anything. The land does not come with the certificate and cannot come with it, because you do not hold a lien against land you do not have an interest in.
Some states have addressed this by treating permanently affixed mobile homes as real property once they meet certain conditions, usually a foundation, an affidavit of affixture, and the retirement of the title. If that paperwork was never done, the unit is still chattel regardless of how long it has sat there, and the certificate follows the chattel rules. If the affixture was done, confirm the title was actually retired with the titling agency, because the paperwork and the agency record sometimes do not match.
So the question worth asking before bidding on any certificate in this category: has the mobile home title been retired, and does the lot lease have any remaining term that would survive a certificate foreclosure?
