Where Ohio mobile home titles come from
In Ohio, certificates of title for manufactured and mobile homes are issued by the clerk of the court of common pleas in each county, through its title office, the same way vehicle titles are. The deputy registrar license agencies handle plates and registrations, not titles. Ohio’s title law, R.C. Chapter 4505, sets the rules, and R.C. 4505.11(H) refers to the clerk “who issued” a manufactured home’s title.
So a lost title is replaced at a clerk of courts title office. The Ohio BMV also runs an online title portal where you can look up title information, which the Summit County Clerk links from its title pages.
Step 1: Confirm who should apply
R.C. 4505.12 says that for a “lost or destroyed certificate of title,” the application is made “by the owner of the motor vehicle or the holder of a lien on it.” In practice:
- No lien on the title: the owner applies.
- An open lien: the lienholder generally applies, or the owner applies after the lien is cancelled. The Summit County Clerk notes that a replacement title is issued once you’ve “paid off your loan and your lien was electronically removed.”
- The owner has died: the executor or administrator applies with probate letters, or a surviving spouse uses the clerk’s surviving spouse affidavit, form BMV 3773.
- Someone acting for the owner: a power of attorney on form BMV 3771.
Step 2: Gather what the title office needs
The Summit County Clerk’s title office asks for:
- an application for certificate of title, form BMV 3774
- a government-issued driver’s license or state ID
- the fee
It helps to bring the home’s serial number (its VIN), the old title number if you have it, and the year, make and model. If you don’t know the title number, the clerk’s title records request form, BMV 1173, covers manufactured home records.
The application must be “signed and sworn to by the person making the application,” under R.C. 4505.12, so expect to sign in front of the clerk or a notary.
Step 3: Apply and pay the fee
Fees are set under R.C. 4505.09 and listed by each clerk. The Summit County Clerk of Courts lists:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Duplicate title | $18.00 |
| Mobile home archival fee | $5.00 |
| Notation of lien | $18.00 |
| Cancellation of lien | No charge |
| Notary, each | $1.00 |
Summit County has three title offices: the main office at 1030 E. Tallmadge Ave., Akron; the North Branch at 10333 Northfield Rd., Suite 152, Northfield Village; and the South Branch at 3333 Massillon Rd., Suite 105, Green. All are open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the main and north offices have Saturday morning hours. Stark, Portage and Medina counties each have their own clerk of courts title office; check its fee list before you go.
The duplicate is “plainly marked across its face with the word ‘duplicate,’” under the statute.
If you can’t find the title and also can’t tell whether it was ever surrendered, the title office can look up the record for you by serial number.
If your home is taxed as real property
Some manufactured homes in Ohio no longer have an active title. Under R.C. 4505.11(H), an owner of a manufactured or mobile home that will be taxed as real property must surrender the title to the county auditor, who sends it to the clerk, and the clerk inactivates it and keeps the record for 30 years.
If that happened to your home, you may not need a duplicate title at all. The home is part of the land and is sold with a deed, through a title company, with the usual Ohio conveyance fee.
To turn it back into a titled home, for example to move it or sell it separately from the land, R.C. 4505.11(H)(4) requires an application with:
- a county treasurer’s endorsement that all real property taxes on the home for prior years are paid
- a county auditor’s endorsement that the home will be removed from the real property tax list
- proof there are no outstanding mortgages or liens, or the lienholder’s consent
Selling the home once you have the title
With the duplicate in hand, you sign the title over to the buyer, and the buyer applies for a new title in their name. A few rules carry over from the duplicate statute:
- a buyer acquires “only such rights” as the holder of the duplicate had
- a buyer may require you to indemnify them against any claim on the original title
- if the original turns up, you must surrender it to the clerk for cancellation
There are tax and fee rules on the transfer as well. R.C. 319.54(G)(2) charges a 50-cent auditor fee for each transfer of a used manufactured or mobile home, and the conveyance fee rules use the home’s full price as its value under R.C. 322.01(B). Ask the county auditor whether any manufactured home taxes must be current before the transfer.
For selling a mobile home that’s in a park, needs work, or sits on land you own, see how to sell a mobile home in Ohio. If the titled owner is deceased, start with how to sell a house in probate in Ohio.
