Article 1. Application And Scope of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 13. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 8. >> Article 1.

(a) Except as provided in Section 18075.7, all manufactured homes, mobilehomes, commercial coaches, truck campers, and floating homes shall be subject to the provisions of this code for the purposes of titling and registration.
  (b) The department may adopt and amend, as necessary, regulations to implement, interpret, and make specific the provisions of this chapter. The department shall provide for an orderly and economical transfer of registrations and titles for manufactured homes, mobilehomes, commercial coaches, and floating homes previously issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to those issued by the department. Any registration, title, or decal issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles shall be valid until renewed, replaced, transferred, suspended, or revoked.
  (c) The department may, but shall not be required to, establish a schedule of fees to pay the costs of work related to administration and enforcement of this chapter, except where the fees are expressly stated herein.

Manufactured homes, mobilehomes, commercial coaches, and floating homes sold or used within this state shall be subject to annual registration with the department and payment of registration fees prescribed by Section 18114 except as follows:
  (a) Manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and floating homes subject to local property taxation pursuant to Part 13 (commencing with Section 5800) of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and not installed on foundation systems pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 18551, shall be subject to registration and payment of fees and penalties prescribed by Section 18114 at the time of original registration with the department, and upon subsequent sale, resale, or transfer of title. For purposes of this section, a transfer of title includes, but is not limited to, any change, addition, or deletion of one or more registered owners, legal owners, or junior lienholders.
  (b) Manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and commercial coaches installed or to be installed on foundation systems pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 18551 shall be exempt from registration so long as they remain affixed to the foundation system. In the event that the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach, is removed from a foundation system for any purpose other than dismantling or reinstallation on a foundation system, it shall be immediately subject to registration with the department.
  (c) Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (d) and (e), registration of a manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach previously registered in another state is due 20 days after the date of entry into California and is delinquent if application is not made and any fees due are not paid within 40 days after that date of entry.
  (d) Any member of the armed forces, whether a resident or nonresident, shall also be entitled to exemption from registration with respect to a manufactured home or mobilehome owned by the person upon which there is displayed a valid registration issued for the manufactured home or mobilehome by the owner's home state of residence or by a foreign jurisdiction where the owner was regularly assigned and stationed for duty by competent military orders at the time the registration was issued. Competent military orders shall not include military orders for leave, for temporary duty, nor for any other assignment of any nature requiring the owner's presence outside the foreign jurisdiction where the owner was regularly assigned and stationed for duty.
  (e) Any person who enters California for the purpose of establishing or reestablishing residence or accepting gainful employment following his or her discharge from the armed forces of this country may occupy a manufactured home or mobilehome owned by that person at the time of his or her discharge and registered to him or her in a foreign jurisdiction where his or her military orders required his or her presence without registering the manufactured home or mobilehome in this state until the expiration of the registration period current at the time of his or her discharge and entrance into California.
  (f) Any new and previously unregistered, unoccupied manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach which is part of an inventory held for sale by a manufacturer or dealer in the course of business. The department may adopt regulations for exempting additional classes of manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and commercial coaches from registration under a temporary or one-trip permit system which permits the lawful transportation and use of manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and commercial coaches not otherwise subject to registration.
  (g) Floating homes, which are subject to local property taxation, as prescribed by Section 229 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, shall be subject to registration at the time of sale and upon any subsequent sale, resale, or transfer of title. Floating homes are subject to the fees prescribed by subdivision (c) of Section 18114 upon registration or reregistration.

(a) Floating homes subject to real property taxation pursuant to Section 229 of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall be subject to registration and titling by the department only at the time of sale, resale, or transfer of title.
  (b) Ownership registration and title to a floating home may be held by two or more co-owners in the manner specified in Sections 18080 and 18081.
  (c) Upon receipt of a registration card, every registered owner shall maintain the card or a copy thereof with the floating home for which it is issued.
  (d) "Floating home," as used in this section, means a floating structure which is all of the following:
  (1) It is designed and built to be used, or is modified to be used, as a stationary waterborne residential dwelling.
  (2) It has no mode of power of its own.
  (3) It is dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility linkage to a source originating on shore.
  (4) It has a permanent continuous hookup to a shoreside sewage system. This section does not affect existing law regarding residential use of tide and submerged lands.

Unless installed on a foundation system pursuant to Section 18551, any manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach used as an office at a manufacturer's, distributor's, or dealer's established place of business is subject to registration by the department and shall be reported pursuant to Section 18080.5.

On and after January 1, 1986, every truck camper may, at the owner's request, be registered with the department at the time of sale, resale, or transfer of title. The department shall issue certificates of title and registration cards for any truck camper registered under this part. Any truck camper permanently attached to a vehicle and registered as a "house car" under the Vehicle Code is exempt under this part.

(a) Manufactured homes, mobilehomes, commercial coaches, or truck campers owned or leased by the United States, by any foreign government, by a consul or other official representative or any foreign government, by the state, by a political subdivision of the state, or by any city, county, or city and county, or public corporation shall be subject to registration under this code by the person having custody thereof, but shall not be subject to the registration fees specified in this code or the Revenue and Taxation Code, and that person shall display upon the manufactured home, mobilehome, commercial coach, or truck camper a decal bearing distinguishing marks or symbols which shall be furnished by the department free of charge.
  (b) Any manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach purchased by a city, county, city and county, or any other public agency pursuant to the exception established in Section 18015.7 shall be subject to registration as specified in Section 18085, but shall not be subject to the registration fees specified in this code or the Revenue and Taxation Code. Application for registration shall be made to the department within 20 days from the date the transaction is completed. For purposes of this section, a transaction shall be deemed completed when the purchaser has signed a purchase contract or security agreement or paid any purchase price and has taken physical possession or delivery of the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach.

Commencing July 1, 1981, the department shall administer the annual licensing and taxation of all manufactured homes and mobilehomes not subject to local property taxation pursuant to Part 13 (commencing with Section 5800) of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and not installed on a foundation system pursuant to Section 18551, and all commercial coaches.

All manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach license fees collected by the department pursuant to Section 18115 shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund.

On or after the first day of January and the first day of July of each year, the department shall report to the auditor of each county the address at which each manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach has situs within the county on which license fees under this article have been paid to the department during the six-month period immediately preceding January 1st and July 1st, respectively, and the amount paid on each manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial coach. At the time the department reports to the county auditors, it shall also report to the Controller the information described in the preceding paragraph, or a summary thereof, for each of the counties.

The department shall implement property tax postponement programs on behalf of eligible mobilehome owners, as provided by law.