How Do I Sell an Abandoned Mobile Home After the Tenant Has Died?

Full question:

We own property and we rented the property to a person who has died. His 'wife' is in jail for bigamy. The mobile home bill of sale is in his daughters names. We have requested the trailer be moved, we have certified mail that the trailer be moved. No response -- no rent paid by the guardians of the girls - nothing. One attorney told us that if the trailer was anchored to our property, it became part of our property and was ours. What do we do to get a title to the trailer?

• Category: Real Property
• Subcategory: Foreclosure
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Virginia

Answer:

The park will have a lien on the home to the extent such rental payments are not made. Any sale of the home shall be subject to the rights of any secured party having a security interest in the home, and the lien granted to the park will be subject to any such security interest. Notice according to the statutes below must be provided before the property may be sold.

Please see the following VA statutes:

§ 55-248.44:1. Rent; liability of secured party taking possession of an abandoned manufactured home. —
A. A secured party shall have no liability for rent or other charges to a landlord except as provided in this section.
B. In the event a manufactured home subject to a security interest becomes an abandoned manufactured home, notice of abandonment shall be sent by the landlord to the owner, the secured party and the dealer as provided for in § 55-248.6, at the addresses shown in the lease or rental application. The notice of abandonment shall state the amount of rent and the amount and nature of any reasonable charges in addition to rent that the secured party will become liable for payment to the landlord. The notice shall include any rental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord.
C. A secured party who has a security interest in an abandoned manufactured home, and who has a right to possession of the manufactured home under § 8.9-503 or under the applicable security agreement, shall be liable to the landlord under the same terms as the tenant was paying prior to the accrual of the right of possession, and any other reasonable charges in addition to rent incurred, for the period which begins fifteen days from receipt of the notice of abandonment by the secured party and ends upon the earlier to occur of the removal of the abandoned manufactured home from the manufactured home park or disposition of the abandoned manufactured home under § 8.9-504 or under the applicable security agreement.
D. This section shall not affect the availability of the landlord's lien as provided in § 55-230 et seq. of Chapter 13 of Title 55, nor shall this section impact the priority of the secured party's lien as provided in § 46.2-640.
E. As used in this section, "security interest" shall have the same meaning as the term is defined in § 8.1A-201, and "secured party" shall have the same meaning as the term is defined in § 8.9A-102.
F. For purposes of this section, "reasonable charges in addition to rent" means any routine maintenance and utility charges for which the tenant is liable under the rental agreement.
G. Any rent or reasonable charges in addition to rent owed by the secured party to the landlord pursuant to this section shall also be paid to the landlord prior to the removal of the manufactured home from the manufactured home park.
H. If a secured party who has a secured interest in an abandoned manufactured home becomes liable to the landlord pursuant to this section, then the relationship between the secured party and the landlord shall be governed by the rental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord unless otherwise agreed, except that the term of the rental agreement shall convert to a month-to-month tenancy. No waiver is required to convert the rental agreement to a month-to-month tenancy. Either the landlord or the secured party may terminate the month-to-month tenancy upon giving written notice of thirty days or more. The secured party and the landlord are not required to execute a new rental agreement. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a waiver of any rights by the tenant.
§ 55-248.6. Notice. —
§ 55-248.6. Notice. —
A. As used in this chapter:
"Notice" means notice given in writing by either regular mail or hand delivery, with the sender retaining sufficient proof of having given such notice, which may be either a United States postal certificate of mailing or a certificate of service confirming such mailing prepared by the sender. However, a person shall be deemed to have notice of a fact if he has actual knowledge of it, he has received a verbal notice of it, or from all the facts and circumstances known to him at the time in question, he has reason to know it exists. A person "notifies" or "gives" a notice or notification to another by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform another person whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it. If notice is given that is not in writing, the person giving the notice has the burden of proof to show that the notice was given to the recipient of the notice.
B. If the rental agreement so provides, the landlord and tenant may send notices in electronic form, however any tenant who so requests may elect to send and receive notices in paper form. If electronic delivery is used, the sender shall retain sufficient proof of the electronic delivery, which may be an electronic receipt of delivery, a confirmation that the notice was sent by facsimile, or a certificate of service prepared by the sender confirming the electronic delivery.
In the case of the landlord, notice is served on the landlord at his place of business where the rental agreement was made, or at any place held out by the landlord as the place for receipt of the communication.
C. In the case of the tenant, notice is served at the tenant's last known place of residence, which may be the dwelling unit.
D. Notice, knowledge or a notice or notification received by an organization is effective for a particular transaction from the time it is brought to the attention of the person conducting that transaction, or from the time it would have been brought to his attention if the organization had exercised reasonable diligence.
E. No notice of termination of tenancy served upon a tenant by a public housing authority organized under the Housing Authorities Law (§ 36-1 et seq.) of Title 36 shall be effective unless it contains on its first page, in type no smaller or less legible than that otherwise used in the body of the notice, the name, address and telephone number of the legal services program, if any, serving the jurisdiction wherein the premises are located.

§ 55-248.50:2. Right to sell home upon eviction. —
A resident who has been evicted from a manufactured home park shall have ninety days after judgment has been entered in which to sell the home or remove the home from the park. Such resident shall be responsible for paying the rental amount and for regular maintenance of the home lot during the period between the date of eviction and the sale of the home or the removal of the home from the park. Such right to keep the manufactured home in the park shall be conditioned upon the payment of all rent accrued prior to the date of judgment and prospective monthly rent as it becomes due. During such term, a secured party shall be liable for such charges as provided in § 55-248.44:1. The park shall have a lien on the home to the extent such rental payments are not made. Any sale of the home shall be subject to the rights of any secured party having a security interest in the home, and the lien granted to the park under this section shall be subject to any such security interest.

§ 8.9A-609. Secured party's right to take possession after default.

§ 8.9A-609. Secured party's right to take possession after default.
(a) Possession; rendering equipment unusable; disposition on debtor's premises. After default, a secured party:
(1) may take possession of the collateral; and
(2) without removal, may render equipment unusable and dispose of collateral on a debtor's premises under § 8.9A-610.
(b) Judicial and nonjudicial process. A secured party may proceed under subsection (a):
(1) pursuant to judicial process; or
(2) without judicial process, if it proceeds without breach of the peace.
(c) Assembly of collateral. If so agreed, and in any event after default, a secured party may require the debtor to assemble the collateral and make it available to the secured party at a place to be designated by the secured party which is reasonably convenient to both parties.