Understanding the Mobile Home Park Application Process
Ahh yes, the mobile home park application process! As licensed mobile home brokers in Florida, here at The Mobile Home Dealer we are all too familiar with this process, as we cannot sell a mobile home to someone who is not already park-approved at the time of closing.
We are unable to sell a mobile home to someone who is not already park-approved because if we did sell these buyers a home and then they went to get approved and were denied, then they, along with their new home, would need to be moved out of the park!
This can create a major problem for these new would-be buyers as most mobile home transport companies within the state of Florida will not move a mobile home if it is older than 20 years old due to the transporter not being able to obtain a permit from the county the home is in to transport the home legally.
Florida mobile home park with palm trees.
As you can quickly see, this can become an issue as now the buyer has a home they legally own, that they cannot live in, and that cannot be moved.
Now that everyone knows why it is so important to have approval on file with the mobile home park before purchasing a mobile home in the greater Sarasota area, let’s go ahead and tackle the actual application itself.
Typical Application Process
Most mobile home parks that have mobile homes on leased land within the Sarasota area of Florida follow a standard application process.
Some parks are more tech-savvy than others and offer everything through their online portal, while others require the application to be filled out in paper form either at the office or to have it physically mailed to the buyer’s residence.
The application usually is pretty short and checks the potential applicant on three main categories:
- Credit History
- Criminal Background
- Reported Income In Relation To Lot Rent
Credit History
While we do not work for any park and do not see or review any applications in the mobile home park approval process, we understand that each park will pull a basic credit history of each applicant. Required credit ratings are a bit of a mystery, but generally speaking, most parks look for over a 550 credit score.
For each household wishing to live in the community, a common benchmark for many communities is a minimum credit score of 550. However, other parks may have much lower or higher minimum credit beacon score requirements.
Since mobile homes on leased land in Florida are taxed as personal property and not real estate, they require different but specific documentation. It is important to prepare these documents in advance to expedite your sale.
- The vehicle title of the manufactured home (if titled as chattel) or the real estate deed (if titled as real estate)
- Bill of sale for the manufactured home, with both the seller’s signature and the buyer’s
- Tax records to prove the seller has paid all applicable taxes on the manufactured home
Most mobile home parks around the country will require a minimum credit score for those who apply for the park. If two people are applying to be on the same park application, many parks will average the two scores together to get a single score required for park approval.
Criminal Background
A standard background check will be done on each applicant. Usually, the fee associated with the application is used in part to pull the criminal background of all would-be applicants.
Most mobile home parks nationwide screen for criminal offenses locally and nationwide. It is important to be honest and forthcoming when speaking to park managers about your past. Criminal restrictions in parks vary widely from community to community. Some communities will not allow DUI offenses in the past 20 years, while others may not care in the slightest.
To protect their investment, mobile home and trailer park owners must screen park residents to ensure a good fit among their established residents. Background checks enable you to protect good tenants while allowing a calculated risk decision to avoid what could be a problem tenant.
Reported Income and Lot Rent
This is usually a standard 2-3 times the lot rent. For example, if the lot rent is $500, then the park would look for the entire household to have a reported income of around $1,000–$1,500 per month. The reason for this is that the park wants to make sure that the applicant has enough money to cover their monthly lot rent payment.
In addition to the above three most common checking categories, some mobile home parks around the country also screen for previous evictions. This may be a deal-breaker in many communities; however, the length of time since the last eviction will vary from community to community.
Final Thoughts
After being in the mobile home industry for quite some time, we at The Mobile Home Dealer have yet to find a park owner or manager who will provide us with a hard-lined set of standards that they require all applicants to meet.
Most park managers and owners we have spoken to send all of the information to a third party, and the third party that completes the approval has a set standard on which they base their approvals or denials.
Whatever a park requires the applicant to provide for the application to be completed should be submitted as soon as possible because any delay will slow down the approval process.
While certain mobile home parks may contain several restrictions, they vary from park to park. Aim to keep an open mind and proactive attitude when reaching out to park managers and aiming to get approved within the community. It is typically better to have more clarity rather than less while purchasing or investing in any mobile home on private land or inside parks.
This is Mark Kaiser with The Mobile Home Dealer. We help mobile home buyers and sellers improve their lives.
See Also:
- Why Do Sarasota Mobile Home Parks Charge An Application Fee?
- Why Are Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Rentals Hard To Find?
- Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Park Residency Restrictions Explained!
- 2022 Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Forecast
- 3 Ways To Sell Your Sarasota Florida Mobile Home Fast