No, Illinois does not require the filing of a UCC Financing Statement to perfect a lien on a manufactured home. Rather, for a manufactured home that has been deemed to be real property, a lender should perfect its lien by recording a mortgage. For a manufactured home that is personal property, a lender should follow the procedure for perfection set forth in the Illinois Vehicle Code.

A manufactured home will be deemed to be real property under Illinois’s Conveyance and Encumbrance of Manufactured Homes as Real Property and Severance Act if the home is located outside of a mobile home park and attached to a permanent foundation, and if certain other steps are met. These steps include the owner surrendering the certificate of title (or Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin, if applicable) to the Illinois Secretary of State and recording an “affidavit of affixation” with the county recorder. When these steps have been completed, a mortgage can attach to the manufactured home as if it were real property.

Alternatively, for a manufactured home that does not meet the criteria to be deemed real property, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) states that a security interest in property covered by the Illinois Vehicle Code can be perfected against the rights of other creditors only by complying with the requirements of that law. Under the Vehicle Code, a purchase money security interest in a manufactured home is perfected as of the date the purchase money security interest attaches.

Other (non-purchase money) security interests are perfected under the Vehicle Code by “delivery to the Secretary of State of the existing certificate of title, if any, an application for a certificate of title containing the name and address of the lienholder and the required fee.” The security interest is perfected as of the time of its creation if the delivery to the Secretary of State is completed within thirty days of its creation or receipt by the new lienholder of the existing certificate of title. Otherwise, the security interest is perfected as of the actual date of the delivery of the certificate of title to the Security of State.  

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Conveyance and Encumbrance of Manufactured Homes as Real Property and Severance Act, 765 ILCS 170/5-2(b) (“The purpose of this Act is to establish a clear statutory procedure for converting to real property manufactured homes located outside of mobile home parks that are affixed to real property and for the severance of manufactured homes from real property.”)

• Conveyance and Encumbrance of Manufactured Homes as Real Property and Severance Act, 765 ILCS 170/5-30 (“A manufactured home shall be deemed to be real property when all of the following events have occurred: (1) the manufactured home is affixed to a permanent foundation as provided in Section 5-5 of this Act; (2) an affidavit of affixation conforming to the requirements of Section 5-15 of this Act has been recorded; (3) a certified copy of the recorded affidavit of affixation has been delivered for filing to the Secretary of State as provided in Section 5-25 of this Act; and (4) the requirements of Section 3-116.1 or 3-116.2 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, as applicable, have been satisfied. A conclusive presumption shall arise that the averments of the recorded affidavit of affixation establish that, for all purposes, the manufactured home is real property.”)

• Conveyance and Encumbrance of Manufactured Homes as Real Property and Severance Act, 765 ILCS 170/5-35 (“Upon the satisfaction of the requirements of Section 5-30 of this Act and the requirements of Section 3-116.1 or 3-116.2 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, as applicable, such manufactured home shall be deemed to be real property; any mortgage, deed of trust, lien, or security interest that can attach to land, buildings erected thereon, or fixtures affixed thereto shall attach as of the date of its recording in the same manner as if the manufactured home were built from ordinary building materials on site; title to such manufactured home shall be transferred by deed or other form of conveyance that is effective to transfer an interest in real property, together with the land to which such structure has been affixed; and the manufactured home shall be deemed to be real property and shall be governed by the laws applicable to real property.”)

• Illinois UCC, 810 ILCS 5/9-311(a)(2) (“Security interest subject to other law. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), the filing of a financing statement is not necessary or effective to perfect a security interest in property subject to: . . . (2) the Illinois Vehicle Code or the Boat Registration and Safety Act . . .”)

• Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/3-100 (“‘Vehicle’ means a vehicle as defined in Section 1-217 of this Code. Unless otherwise specified, ‘vehicle’ also means a ‘manufactured home’ as defined in Section 1-144.03 of this Code.”)

• Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/3-202(a) (“Unless excepted by Section 3-201, a security interest in a vehicle of a type for which a certificate of title is required is not valid against subsequent transferees or lienholders of the vehicle unless perfected as provided in this Act. A purchase money security interest in a manufactured home is perfected against the rights of judicial lien creditors and execution creditors on and after the date such purchase money security interest attaches.”)

• Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/3-202(b) (“A security interest is perfected by the delivery to the Secretary of State of the existing certificate of title, if any, an application for a certificate of title containing the name and address of the lienholder and the required fee. The security interest is perfected as of the time of its creation if the delivery to the Secretary of State is completed within 30 days after the creation of the security interest or receipt by the new lienholder of the existing certificate of title from a prior lienholder or licensed dealer, otherwise as of the time of the delivery.”)