Pennsylvania § 8821 - Assessment of mobile homes and manufactured homes.

§ 8821. Assessment of mobile homes and manufactured homes.

(a) Duty.--It shall be the duty of the county assessment office to assess all mobile homes and manufactured homes within the county according to the actual value thereof. All mobile homes or manufactured homes which are subject to taxation as real estate as provided in this chapter shall be assessed and taxed in the name of the owner. The land upon which the mobile home or manufactured home is located at the time of assessment shall be assessed separately and shall not include the value of the mobile home or manufactured home located thereon.

(a.1) Value.--In arriving at the actual value of a mobile home or manufactured home, the assessor may consider:

(1) The value placed on the mobile home or manufactured home in the most recent national directory or valuation guide prepared by an association that analyzes mobile home or manufactured home sales and other relevant data.

(2) Any depreciation in value of the unit.

(3) The ability of the mobile home or manufactured home to be readily transported from one site to another.

(4) The fair market value of the mobile home or manufactured home, using the approaches to value specified in section 8842(b)(1) (relating to valuation of property), provided, however, that such fair market value shall not include the value of the land upon which the mobile home or manufactured home is located.

(5) Any improvement made to the mobile home or manufactured home.

(b) Records.--All manufactured housing community owners, which shall mean every person who leases land to three or more persons for the purpose of allowing the lessees to locate on the land a mobile home or manufactured home which is subject to real property taxation, shall maintain a record of the leases, which shall be open for inspection at reasonable times by the county assessment office. Each month, the manufactured housing community owner shall send a record to the county assessment office of the arrivals and departures of mobile homes or manufactured homes in the community during the prior month, including the make, model, manufacturer, year and serial number of the mobile home or manufactured home.

(c) Notice.--Each person in whose name a mobile home or manufactured home is assessed, rated or valued as provided in this chapter shall be notified in writing by the assessor that it shall be unlawful for any person to remove the mobile home or manufactured home from the taxing district without first having obtained removal permits from the local tax collector.

(d) Removal permits.--The local tax collector shall issue removal permits upon application and payment of a fee of $2 and of all taxes levied and assessed on the mobile home or manufactured home to be moved.

(e) Penalty.--Any person who moves a mobile home or manufactured home from the territorial limits of the taxing district without first having obtained a removal permit issued under this chapter shall, upon summary conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and costs of prosecution or to imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.

(f) Characterization of property.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a mobile home or manufactured home upon which a real property tax is levied as provided by law from being deemed tangible personal property for other purposes.

(July 1, 2020, P.L.543, No.46, eff. Jan. 1, 2021)