California title problems, computed
In California, a manufactured home's paper is a HCD Certificate of Title, and the office that holds it is the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Registration and Titling Program. This page is the whole process in one place: the duplicate path, the transfer, the bonded branch where the state offers one, the never-transferred and deceased-owner routes, and conversion to real property — with the form, the verified fee, and who must sign, from the state's own sources.
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California titles manufactured homes through HCD, not the DMV, unless the home has been converted to real property / is on local property tax rolls in some cases.
California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Registration and Titling Program — https://www.hcd.ca.gov/. Every fee on this page is printed only where the dataset verified it; where a fee was not verified, the page sends you to the agency page for the current figure instead of guessing.
1) If you do not have the last-issued title, ask HCD for a title search so you can complete the form correctly (1-800-952-8356). 2) Complete Form HCD RT 480.4, Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title — certify whether the title was lost, stolen, mutilated, or never received, under penalty of perjury. 3) Both old and new owners sign the reverse if a transfer is happening at the same time. 4) Send to HCD with the duplicate fee.
Form: HCD RT 480.4 — Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title
Fee: $25 duplicate title fee (per HCD RT 804-series instructions); duplicate registration card (RT 481.2) also $25
Who may apply: Legal owner of record (lienholder) or, if none, registered owner of record
Seller signs off the original HCD Certificate of Title; new owners complete and sign the New Owner Information section. Include the last-issued Registration Card (or RT 481.2 duplicate, $25), Statement of Purchase Price, and use tax unless an exemption applies. Homes with an 'L' decal need a Tax Clearance Certificate from the county tax collector; 'A' decal homes follow the HCD in-lieu tax route.
Form: HCD Certificate of Title assignment; HCD RT 480.4 if title is lost; HCD 479.7 / 476.x purchase-price/use-tax forms by decal type
Fee: The current fee is listed on the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Registration and Titling Program page — check it there before you go: https://www.hcd.ca.gov/
Who must sign: All owners printed on the title must sign off; new owners must sign
No bonded-title program was verified for California in our October 2026 dataset. The usual routes are the owner of record applying for a duplicate and signing over, or a court order establishing ownership.
If the seller is not the owner on the HCD record, HCD will not transfer to you on a bill of sale alone. The owner of record must file RT 480.4 and sign over, or ownership must be established through the HCD title search / court process. Verify the seller against the HCD record by phone before paying.
Transfer on death follows HCD registration rules with a certified death certificate and, where applicable, probate / affidavit documents for the estate or surviving joint owner.
Yes — fees and records are per transportable section (e.g., registration and conversion fees are charged per section). Each section's serial/HUD label must be accounted for.
Eligibility: Home permanently installed on an approved foundation system on land owned by the homeowner; local enforcement agency inspection and Certificate of Occupancy.
1) Install on a permitted permanent foundation and pass inspection. 2) The local agency records Form HCD 433A, Notice of Manufactured Home Installation on a Foundation System, with the county recorder (within 5 business days of the Certificate of Occupancy). 3) Recording the 433A cancels the HCD title/registration and the home becomes a fixture of the real property. Separate conversion fee mechanics under Health & Safety Code 18551/18555 also apply in escrow sales ($22 per section to HCD; $11 per section 433A fee in cited sources — verify current HCD Program Fees page before paying).
Form: HCD 433A — Notice of Manufactured Home Installation on a Foundation System
Fee: The current fee is listed on the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Registration and Titling Program page — check it there before you go: https://www.hcd.ca.gov/
Why people do this: converting from personal-property titling to real-property titling saves a typical borrower about $49,000 over a $100,000 loan (Pew, February 2026). The full routing picture — which loan doors conversion opens — is on the financing-by-title-status page and in the conversion explainer.
Same state, other problem: California mobile home park laws — lot rent, closure, and purchase rights →
This state's titling definitions sit inside the federal ROAD Act parity wave (states certify by July 11, 2027 — July 11, 2028 for biennial-legislature states). See the ROAD Act tracker →
See the $39 Manufactured Home Playbook
One payment, yours to keep. Everything inside →
Verified October 2026. State data verified October 2026 — re-checked quarterly.
General information about how the process works in your state — not legal advice. For a contested eviction, a park-sale fight, or a title dispute with a lienholder, a local attorney or legal-aid office is the next step.