Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
I am thinking about buying an owner financed mobile home but the home isn't in her name as her mother died suddenly a year ago at 69 and she didn't have a will and it never went thru probate and she doesn't want it to because it can take years, is there a way to do this? The space rent is behind $5,400 can they go after the daughter or myself for this? I really want this mobile how can this be done?
Judy
Ca.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The space rent has to be paid or the owner will have the mobile home removed. Contact the DMV to determine how to get the title transferred into your name. Do not buy the mobile home until you can get the title in your name.
Mobile homes aren't real estate until affixed to the ground by a foundation and accepted as real property after a county inspection. However, the problems of complying with probate law may be greatly overblown. There are short-cut provisions for small estates. Have someone familiar with the Probate Code advise you. Pay a few hundred bucks for an hour's services if necessary. There is no magic bullet to avoid probate, but proper compliance may be a whole lot cheaper and quicker than you've been led to believe. A clean deal is better for you in the long run than a fly-by-night deal that winks at the realities of the law.