Mobile homes present all sorts of problems for local property tax assessors and collectors. They are the only properties that can move between real property and personal property status without physical changes to the property. That status affects both appraisal (are they reappraised annually with other personal property or only when a county-wide revaluation of real property occurs?) and collection (is only the listing owner personally responsible as with personal property or are subsequent owners also liable as with real property?). Mobile homes can easily disappear from a tax collector’s jurisdiction, leaving unpaid taxes in their wake. Ownership is often muddled, with collectors at a loss over whom to target with collection actions for those unpaid taxes.
The Machinery Act seeks to help tax collectors by requiring the issuance of a moving permit when a taxpayer wishes to move a mobile home from one parcel of real property to another. GS 105-316.1. To obtain a permit, the taxpayer must “(i) pay all taxes due to be paid by the owner to the county or to any other taxing unit therein; or (ii) show proof to the tax collector that no taxes are due to be paid; or (iii) demonstrate to the tax collector that the removal of the mobile home will not jeopardize the collection of any taxes due or to become due to the county or to any taxing unit therein.” GS 105-316.2.
The key phrase here is “all taxes due to be paid by the owner.” On its face, that phrase seems to require payment of only property taxes owed by the current owner of the mobile home, not those owed by a former owner. But based on conversations with tax collectors across the state, that is not how the phrase is usually interpreted. I think most tax collectors interpret the permitting provisions as requiring payment of all taxes owed on the mobile home regardless of who owes those taxes.
Consider this example. Hubert owns a mobile home in Carolina County. 2024 and 2025 taxes on both the mobile home are unpaid as of December 1, 2025. Just before Christmas, Hubert sells his mobile home to Jon. Jon lives in Blue Devil County and owns no other property in Carolina County.
Being a responsible taxpayer (and all-around good guy), Jon visits the Carolina County tax office and asks to obtain a moving permit so that he can move the mobile home that he just purchased from Hubert to Blue Devil County. What taxes should Jon have to pay to get that permit?
GS 105-316.2 says that Carolina County should require the owner (Jon) to pay all taxes he owes to Carolina County. But Jon has never listed property for taxation in that county.
Does that mean Carolina County will issue the moving permit to Jon without requiring payment of any property taxes? Probably not. Most tax offices would require Jon to pay all outstanding property taxes (2024 and 2025) owed on the mobile home. Effectively, those tax offices interpret the term “owner” in GS 105-316.2 to mean “current or former owner” of the mobile home.
Is it reasonable to require Jon to make payment for taxes on the mobile home owed by Hubert? The best rationale might be if the mobile home were listed as real property when owned by Hubert. Subsequent owners of real property are personally responsible for delinquent taxes on that real property. GS 105-365.1. The tax office could argue that the mobile home remains real property for the entire 2025-26 tax year, despite the change in ownership to Jon. If so, then Jon could be considered to owe the mobile home taxes that arose under Hubert’s ownership.
However, this argument fails if the mobile home were listed as personal property under Hubert as would be the case if he did not own the land on which the mobile sits. In my example, Hubert listed only the mobile home. If Hubert does not own the land on which the mobile home sits, then the mobile home would have been listed as personal property for 2025-26 taxes. See GS 105-273(13)(d). Because subsequent owners do not have liability for taxes on personal property, Jon could not be held responsible for the unpaid taxes on the mobile home. He will become responsible for taxes on the mobile home when he lists it for taxation in Blue Devil County for the 2026-27 tax year.
I can hear my loyal readers beginning to grumble, “That’s all very interesting, Chris. But what’s the right answer?!?!?”
Unfortunately, I don’t have a perfect answer to this dilemma. I think Jon has a good argument under the plain language of GS 105-316.2 that he does not need to pay any taxes owed by Hubert before obtaining a moving permit. But I also think that the clear intent of GS 105-316.2 was to get all outstanding taxes owed on the mobile home paid before a moving permit is issued.
My best advice is to be consistent. If your office requires all taxes owed on a mobile home to be paid before issuing a moving permit, then take care to always enforce that requirement. All taxpayers in similar situations should be treated similarly.
