I just bought a mobile home in PA from a person who claims they bought it from a courthouse by paying back taxes, but has no proof or a title. We have a notarized bill of sale from them, but apparently that's nothing because of him not having proof of ownership. The person they bought it from also has no proof or title but wants us to now pay her money for the home, after we already paid for it. She says that the guy we bought it from never had legal ownership of it, and that she does, but the courthouse says that he does, but did not buy it from back taxes. The main problem I have is that we need a title to make everything legal, but there is no VIN on the MH anywhere. I have called the courhouse and PennDot and the DMV, but no one has been able to direct me to where I can get this information. If anyone has any idea as to where I should start, please let me know! This has been one major headache.

OK, first did you buy the land it was sitting on, the land would be sold for back property taxes, but that would not normally include the mobile home sitting on it.

It is owned by the person who holds the title. Mobile homes normally work like cars, not land or houses. They are repossesed so if you lived in a place where they have personal property tax on mobile homes, but normally they are not sold for that.

If you can't find a serial number, did the court records of the sale, list the mobile home or just the land??

If you have a receipt for the mobile home being sold at the tax sale, and a receipt that he sold it to you, that should stand up in court if anyone sues you.

But in general, if you don't have a title, you don't own the home.

Go down to the County Treasurer or County Auditor's office and speak to them. They will be able to help you figure out just where the title to the home is or just who legally owned the home prior to your ownership. There has to be a paper trail on the home as mobile homes are not permitted to be placed on land or in a mobile home park without a permit being issued by the county. Also the home COULD have been sold for back taxes on the home itself. Start with the county agency that sells mobile homes for back taxes. In Ohio where I live I must pay a yearly tax on my mobile home similar to a stick built home. Every so many years the tax assessor's office sends out someone to assess my home and put a tax tag on it in dollars and cents. If I didn't pay this yearly "property tax" on my mobile home it can and would be sold for back taxes. I don't know how Pennsylvania taxes mobile homes but more than likely it should be similar to the way Ohio goes about taxing the homes yearly. It does not matter if the mobile home is on private land or in a mobile home park the house itself is taxed unless the home is incorporated into the real estate. Usually homes that have square footages of more than 1,200 sq.ft. are incorporated into the real estate deed and they are usually the double wides.

You can also look for the serial number of your home in a number of places. One place is inside the closet in the master bedroom; another place is above the stove in the cabinet; and a third place is under the kitchen sink in the cabinet. You will find a white piece of paper pasted onto the wall that has a map of the United States on it. At the top left hand portion of the paper you will find your serial number and the manufacturer name on it. Or the serial number can be found on the metal plate located near one of the outside corners of the home near the bottom portion of the house near the skirting.