Mobile and manufactured homes, sometimes referred to as modular homes, are taxed separately from the real property unless certain criteria are met.
A residential dwelling built in a factory in accordance with U.S. Department of House and Urban Development code and the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards.
Since the standards went into effect on June 15, 1976, we consider any manufactured home constructed before then to be a mobile home.
A manufactured home has support beams or an undercarriage built into the structure. These should not be removed.
Manufactured homes do not include mobile homes.
Any trailer, house trailer, or trailer coach that is:
A residential dwelling built in a factory in accordance with the Uniform Building Codes.
These structures meet state building codes and have removable support beams or undercarriages for transport.
For tax purposes, a permanent foundation is concrete, concrete block, or wood pier resting on concrete or concrete block footings.
Permanent foundations do not include mudsill, pier and post, wood blocks, concrete blocks, or any other temporary support that rests on the ground.
The axles, tires, wheels, and hitch used to transport a mobile home.
See 15-24-201, MCA for more information.
To transfer ownership of a mobile home or housetrailer, you must apply for a transfer with the County Treasurer's Office in the county where the mobile home or housetrailer is located. You need to pay all delinquent and current taxes before we can process an ownership transfer request. (15-24-211, MCA)
Ownership transfers of manufactured homes require a title from the Montana Department of Justice Motor Vehicle Division.
The Department of Justice maintains all transferring regulations.
If your mobile home was built before 1977, you will need to complete an Ownership Change Request for a Pre-1977 Mobile Home (Form AB-38).
The Form AB-38 must be notarized or have a county treasurer seal if a notarized bill of sale or a signed-off title contract for purchase is not included with the form.
Return Form AB-38 to the local DOR field office.
Before you move a mobile or manufactured home on any public road, you need to fill out the Mobile/Manufactured Home Moving Declaration (Form AB-6), available from your local County Treasurer's Office.
You need to pay all delinquent or current property taxes at the same time you purchase the moving declaration. (15-24-206, MCA)
We can reclassify a mobile or manufactured home as real property if:
The permanent foundation types consist of a concrete, concrete block, or wood perimeter foundation resting on a concrete or concrete block footing. The foundation has concrete stringers with footings or concrete columns with attachment points.
The home is anchored, permanently blocked, and skirted.
Before we can reclassify your home as real property, you must give us a copy of the Statement of Intent to Declare a Manufactured Home an Improvement to Real Property (Form MV72) filed with the County Clerk and Recorder's Office. Form MV72 is available from the Montana Department of Justice Motor Vehicle Division.
Include the following information with your form MV72:
If you have any questions or need help with the process, contact your local Department of Revenue field office.
If at some point in the future, you wish to remove the manufactured home from the real property, you will need to obtain a Reversal of Declaration of Manufactured Home as an Improvement to Real Property (Form MV73) from your county treasurer's office and re-title the manufactured home.
Mobile homes are exempt from property tax if they are:
An owner of multiple mobile homes may only qualify for this exemption for his or her two mobile homes with the lowest assessed values.
Owners of exempted mobile homes will be notified by the department when they receive their property classification and appraisal notices. The notices will not display market or taxable values for the exempt mobile homes.
A mobile home is considered an improvement to real property, and therefore ineligible for this exemption, if it is attached to a permanent foundation and its running gear is removed.
Abandoned mobile homes that are no longer fit for human habitation are eligible for a property tax exemption if they are assessed separately from the land on which they are located and are not used for livestock or storage of personal property.
Property owners have to apply for the exemption by submitting the Abandoned Mobile Home Tax Exemption Application by March 1 to be considered for the current tax year.
If the exemption is approved, the property owner remains eligible for the exemption as long as the property remains uninhabited and does not have another productive use.
15-6-242, MCA and 15-1-101. MCA
If a mobile home, manufactured home, or housetrailer isn't taxed as an improvement to real property, it is taxed as personal property unless it has an exemption. (15-1-101 and 15-24-202, MCA)
First Payment | May 31 or within 30 days from the date of the notice for taxes due, whichever is later |
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Second Payment | No later than November 30 but may due earlier in some counties. Please contact your county treasurer to learn when the second payment is due in your county. |