If a sale includes a mobile home, must the Additional Provisions Addendum be used?

QUESTION: I have a question about new wording in paragraph 1(c) of the Offer to Purchase and Contract (Form 2-T) that requires the parties to indicate whether a manufactured home is a part of the sale, and if so, directs them to include the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision in the Additional Provisions Addendum (Form 2A11-T). In the past, I’ve never used the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision in sales involving mobile homes when the mobile home has become part of the real estate.  I thought the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision was only needed if the sale included a mobile home that was still personal property. Can you explain why it is now required in all transactions that include a mobile home?

ANSWER: The wording in paragraph 1(c) of Form 2-T was changed at the request of the real estate attorneys on the Joint Forms Task Force.  Although the old version of Form 2-T included a “Note” recommending use of the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision if the sale included a mobile home, the attorneys reported frequent situations where they were not aware that the sale included a mobile home because the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision had not been made a part of the contract, and that this sometimes resulted in unnecessary delays in closing. Requiring the parties to affirmatively indicate whether or not the sale includes a mobile home, and directing them to include the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision if it does, hopefully will help eliminate those situations.

You are correct that from a legal standpoint, it would not be necessary to identify a mobile home in Form 2-T if the mobile home has been properly affixed to the land and its title surrendered to the DMV in accordance with NCGS 20-109.2, because in such a case the mobile home has become part of the real estate and doesn’t need to be described separately. But it has been concluded that it wouldn’t do any harm to include the Manufactured (Mobile) Home Provision as a part of the contract in that situation. Although noting that the mobile home is included in the property being sold might lead someone to believe that the mobile home has not been attached to the real estate, that’s not likely to cause an issue, unlike the situation where the sale includes a mobile home that is not identified in the contract and that has not become attached to the real estate. Also, from a risk management perspective, if mobile homes that are part of a sale are identified in the contract in all cases, the brokers aren’t being put in a position of determining whether the mobile home has been properly made a part of the land in accordance with legal requirements. That determination would be made by an attorney handling the closing, and who has been made aware up front that the mobile home is part of the sale.