Texas Statement of Ownership (SOL): The Complete Guide for Mobile Home Sellers

A Texas Statement of Ownership (SOL) is the official title document the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) issues for every manufactured home titled as personal property in the state. It lists the legal owner, any recorded lienholder, the home's physical address, whether the home is classified as personal or real property, and the HUD label and serial numbers. To sell your mobile home legally in Texas, you need a clean SOL in your name with no unreleased liens, and you must file a new SOL application with TDHCA to transfer ownership to the buyer. Standard processing takes four to six weeks and costs about $55 per section plus $10 for the Texas Manufactured Homeowner Consumer Claims Program.

What is a Statement of Ownership in Texas, and why does it exist?

Texas is unusual. In most states, a mobile home title works like a car title issued by the DMV. In Texas, the Legislature pulled manufactured housing titles out of the DMV system decades ago and assigned the entire program to TDHCA's Manufactured Housing Division. The authority is Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1201, and it controls everything — titling, liens, installation, consumer protection, the licensing of retailers, brokers, installers, and salespeople.

The document you care about as a seller is the Statement of Ownership, commonly shortened to "SOL." Older homeowners sometimes call it the Statement of Ownership and Location — that was the previous name, and you'll still hear it on the phone at the tax office. It's the same document. When you sell, TDHCA cancels the old SOL and issues a new one in the buyer's name once all requirements are met.

What's actually on the SOL?

• Owner name and mailing address (or names — joint ownership is common)
• HUD label numbers (one per section, e.g., TEX0123456)
• Serial/VIN numbers for each section
• Manufacturer, model, year, and size
• Physical location of the home (park name and lot, or legal description if on private land)
• Real property vs. personal property election
• Lienholder(s) with filing date and amount
• Prior owners (chain of title)

Personal property vs. real property: which are you selling?

This distinction controls how you sell the home, what taxes apply, and which forms you file. By default, every manufactured home in Texas is personal property titled through TDHCA. The home is taxed by the county appraisal district like a vehicle and transferred by filing a new SOL application.

An owner can elect to convert the home to real property if three things are true: the home is permanently affixed, the homeowner owns the underlying land, and the owner files a Statement of Ownership with a real property election. The original SOL is surrendered to TDHCA, and a certified copy of the new SOL showing the real property election is filed with the county clerk in the county where the land sits. Once converted, the home is deeded and transferred like any other Texas real estate.

Most of the homes we buy at Mobile Bye Bye are personal property — homes in parks, homes on leased land, or homes on land the seller owns but never converted. If you aren't sure which category your home falls into, look at your SOL. It will say.

How do I get a copy of my current Statement of Ownership?

Three options, roughly in order of speed:

1. Free online lookup. The TDHCA Manufactured Housing public search lets anyone enter a serial number, HUD label, or owner name and pull up the current SOL record. This is how buyers, title companies, and brokers verify ownership. It's free and returns ownership and lien status in seconds.
2. Request a copy by mail or fax. If you need a certified copy of the actual SOL document, file a Request for Certified Copy with TDHCA. Turnaround is usually one to two weeks.
3. Use a TDHCA-licensed broker. Licensed brokers and retailers have expedited access to the database and can run a title history for you in minutes. If you're already going to sell, this is free to you through your broker.

If you cannot find any record of the home in TDHCA's system at all, it may be pre-1976 HUD Code, or the title may have been surrendered when the home was converted to real property. Those require a different path — see our guide on what to do when you've lost the title to your mobile home.

What does an SOL cost in 2025, and how long does TDHCA take?

Here's the current fee structure for a straightforward transfer:

Fee	Single-wide	Double-wide	Triple-wide
TDHCA SOL filing fee (~$55/section)	$55	$110	$165
Texas Trust Fund assessment	$10	$10	$10
Expedited processing (optional)	+$100	+$100	+$100

Standard processing is four to six weeks from receipt of a complete application. Expedited drops that to roughly 15 business days. Any defect — missing notarization, unreleased lien, unpaid property tax, broken chain — pauses the file, and the clock resets when the correction is received. Fees change periodically; always confirm current rates on the TDHCA Manufactured Housing site before writing a check.

What forms will I encounter when I sell?

TDHCA publishes a form library; here are the ones sellers actually touch:

Application for Statement of Ownership (Form T)

The primary title application. Buyer and seller both sign, notarized. This is the document that transfers the title.

Notice of Installation

Filed by the licensed installer after a move or new install. Relevant if the home was moved during your ownership.

Tax Lien Release

Issued by the county tax assessor-collector confirming all personal property taxes on the home are paid through the current year. TDHCA requires this before transfer if the home is titled as personal property.

Lien Release

Signed and notarized by the lender confirming a chattel loan is paid off. Must be submitted to TDHCA for the lien to clear from the SOL.

Real Property Election

Used to convert personal-property-titled homes into real property, or to return a real-property home to personal property (rare).

Trust/Estate/Heirship Affidavit

Required when the titled owner is deceased. See our inherited mobile home guide for the full process.

How are liens handled on a Texas mobile home?

Liens on personal-property-titled manufactured homes are recorded directly on the SOL itself, inside the TDHCA database. There is no separate county filing. This is different from real estate (where liens hit the county deed records) and different from cars (where liens hit the DMV title).

That matters because it makes lien checking easy: one search of the TDHCA public database tells you whether a chattel lender has a recorded interest in the home. Our full lien-check guide walks through that and the parallel UCC and judgment searches you should run before buying or selling any home.

To close a sale with a lien on file, one of two things happens: the lender issues a notarized Lien Release and the seller files it with TDHCA in advance, or the payoff is handled through closing with the release going to TDHCA immediately after. If there's an old lien that was paid off years ago but never released on the SOL, expect to spend a few weeks tracking down the lender (or its successor in a bank merger) to get a current release. We cover this in our selling with a lien guide.

What breaks a Statement of Ownership transfer?

TDHCA kicks applications back for the same handful of issues over and over. In rough order of frequency:

• Broken chain of title. Home was sold two or three times on handshake deals; the last SOL in the system is from 1998.
• Unreleased old lien. Lender was paid off in 2010 but the release was never filed.
• Unpaid personal property taxes. County won't issue a tax lien release until back taxes are current.
• Missing notarization. One party signed but didn't appear before a notary.
• Name mismatch. Current SOL says "John R. Smith" but the seller signed as "Johnny Smith."
• Deceased titled owner. No probate, no heirship affidavit, no transfer on death deed.
• Wrong form version. TDHCA updates forms; the old PDF from 2019 on your printer is rejected.

None of these are fatal. Most are a few weeks of paperwork. But every one of them delays closing and costs sellers money when the buyer walks. A TDHCA-licensed broker sees these problems every week and knows the fix before it becomes a crisis. Compare approaches in our complete Texas selling guide and the legal-side overview.

When should I just hire a broker?

Do your own SOL transfer if you have a clean title in your name, no liens, current taxes, and a cooperative buyer. The forms are free and the fees are modest. It's genuinely a handful of pages and some notary stamps.

Bring in a TDHCA-licensed broker if any of the following apply:

• You aren't on the current SOL (inherited, divorced, never recorded a prior sale)
• There's a lien you're not sure how to release
• The home has been moved and the new installation was never reported
• The buyer is using chattel financing and the lender needs clean title first
• You want to close in under 30 days — self-filing rarely hits that timeline

If you'd rather skip the research and just get a fair cash offer, request a no-obligation offer from Mobile Bye Bye. We're TDHCA-licensed and handle the title transfer, park estoppel, and closing paperwork for you.

A quick reminder: Mobile Bye Bye handles TDHCA paperwork routinely as a licensed broker, but we are not attorneys. A title dispute, an estate with multiple claimants, or any active lawsuit over the home needs a licensed Texas attorney, not a broker.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Texas Statement of Ownership?

The Statement of Ownership (SOL) is the official TDHCA-issued title document for a manufactured home in Texas. It replaced the older Statement of Ownership and Location and is governed by Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1201. The SOL lists the legal owner, any recorded lienholders, the home's physical location, and whether it is classified as personal property or real property.

How much does a Statement of Ownership cost in Texas?

The standard TDHCA filing fee is approximately $55 per section (so $55 for a single-wide and $110 for a double-wide), plus a $10 Manufactured Homeowner Consumer Claims Program assessment (often called the Texas Trust Fund fee). Expedited processing adds roughly $100. These fees change periodically, so always confirm current rates on the TDHCA Manufactured Housing website before filing.

How long does TDHCA take to process an SOL?

Standard TDHCA processing typically runs four to six weeks from the date a complete, correct application is received. Expedited service cuts that to roughly 15 business days. Incomplete forms, missing notarizations, unreleased liens, or unpaid taxes will pause the file and restart the clock once corrections are submitted.

Is a Texas mobile home personal property or real property?

By default a Texas manufactured home is personal property and is titled through TDHCA via the Statement of Ownership. An owner can elect to convert the home to real property by permanently affixing it to owned land, surrendering the SOL, and filing a Statement of Ownership with a real property election plus a certified copy with the county clerk where the land sits. Once converted, the home is taxed and transferred like a house.

What happens if my mobile home has a broken title chain in Texas?

A broken chain means the TDHCA record does not reflect one or more past transfers, so the person trying to sell is not the current owner on file. TDHCA has a documented chain-of-title correction process that usually requires bills of sale, affidavits from prior owners or heirs, tax-office confirmation, and sometimes a court order. A TDHCA-licensed broker can often rebuild the chain without litigation; complex disputes require a Texas attorney.

Are liens recorded on the Statement of Ownership itself?

Yes. Unlike real estate where liens are filed at the county, manufactured-home liens on personal-property-titled homes are recorded directly on the SOL in the TDHCA database. Any sale requires a lien release from the lender (or a payoff handled through closing) before TDHCA will issue a new SOL in the buyer's name.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. Mobile Bye Bye is a TDHCA-licensed manufactured home brokerage — we are not attorneys, accountants, tax advisors, or financial advisors, and nothing in this article constitutes legal, tax, or financial advice. Title transfer requirements, tax law, probate procedures, park regulations, and state statutes change frequently and apply differently to every situation. Before making any decision involving legal paperwork, taxes, title transfers, estate matters, or financial commitments, consult a licensed Texas attorney, CPA, or qualified financial advisor.