Home buying
Affidavit of affixture: making a manufactured home real property in Arizona
How Arizona converts a manufactured home on your own land from a titled vehicle into real property, and what the form requires.
What it is
An affidavit of affixture is the document Arizona uses to change a manufactured home from personal property to real property. Under A.R.S. 42-15203, a person who owns a home that is permanently affixed to real property may file the affidavit with the recorder of the county where the land is located. The Maricopa County Assessor describes it as being for people who own both the home and the land it sits on.
What the affidavit must include
The statute lists the contents: the home's vehicle identification numbers, the legal description of the land, a statement about whether the home was previously taxed in Arizona as personal property, any lienholders whose security interest isn't being terminated, and the Motor Vehicle Division's receipt showing the home's title documents were surrendered.
The order of steps
Maricopa County's instructions describe the sequence: complete the legal description and parcel number, complete the property-tax section, surrender the title documents to the Motor Vehicle Division, then submit the affidavit to the county recorder. If taxes on the home are delinquent, MVD will not accept the documents for surrender, so clear those first.
If the home is later separated from the land
According to the Maricopa County Assessor, if a home with a recorded affidavit is removed or sold separately from its parcel, it must be retitled through Motor Vehicle. The affidavit ties the home and land together for as long as they stay together.
Why buyers care
Lenders and title companies handle a home on a permanent foundation with a recorded affidavit together with the land. Ask your lender how it treats affixed homes, and ask your title company or the county assessor for help completing the form; the Arizona Department of Revenue publishes the official form (82528).