Texas calls a torn-down mobile home salvaged
Texas Occupations Code Section 1201.461 says a manufactured home is salvaged "if the home is scrapped, dismantled, or destroyed or if an insurance company pays the full insured value of the home."
The same section says a person who owns a used manufactured home that is salvaged "shall apply to the director for the issuance of a new statement of ownership that indicates that the home is salvaged." The director is the executive director of the Manufactured Housing Division of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), which keeps the ownership record for every manufactured home in the state.
A salvaged home can be sold only to a licensed retailer, and it cannot be rebuilt except under TDHCA's rebuilding rules. If someone wants the home to live in, settle that before it is declared salvage, not after.
Filing the salvage statement of ownership
The filing is TDHCA's Application for Statement of Ownership, Form 1023. The current form, revised September 19, 2025, has a Salvage box in Block 7. It lists a $55 payment per transaction for normal processing, about 15 working days, and an extra $55 to have the application processed within 5 working days.
If the statement of ownership shows a lien on the home, TDHCA's salvage procedures ask for the lienholder's release (its Form B) with the application. If you still owe on the home, talk to the lender first.
TDHCA's Manufactured Housing Division answers at (800) 500-7074, the number printed on the form, and can tell you what your home's record needs.
If the home was made real property
Many rural homes were converted to real property when they were set on the owner's land. Section 1201.2055 has the owner file that election in the county's real property records, and Section 1201.216 says the home is then no longer a manufactured home for purposes of regulation under Chapter 1201 or of recording liens. The home goes with the land, so the salvage filing above may not be the step that applies.
Your statement of ownership shows which election is on file. If it says real property, ask TDHCA what to file before the teardown.
Taxes on the home
A manufactured home kept as personal property is taxed on its own. The notice Texas law prints on every statement of ownership reads: "On January 1st of each year, a new tax lien comes into existence on a manufactured home in favor of each taxing unit having jurisdiction where the home is actually located on January 1st."
To learn what is owed, the same notice sends you to "the tax office for the county where the home was actually located on January 1st of that year." Settle it before the home is gone, so a lien is not left on the record of a home that no longer exists.
Asbestos: one home or several
The federal asbestos rule for demolitions, the Asbestos NESHAP, covers buildings in general but excludes "residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units." A single mobile home torn down on its own is normally inside that exclusion.
The exclusion is narrow. In a 2021 letter citing the agency's 1995 clarification, EPA's Region 5 office wrote that "multiple (i.e., 2 or more) residential buildings of any size under control of the same owner or operator and demolished as part of a project or installation would be subject to the Asbestos NESHAP." Clearing several old homes off a park or a tract at once can fall under the rule, which requires a thorough asbestos inspection before demolition and notice before work starts. In Texas, the Department of State Health Services runs the asbestos program.
Older homes can carry asbestos in flooring, siding or ceiling texture. On a job with more than one home, get the inspection before anything comes down.
How the teardown goes
Once the paperwork is settled, the work itself is short. The table is the order we run it in.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Paperwork | Statement of ownership checked. Salvage application filed with TDHCA, or the real property record confirmed. Taxes settled with the county tax office. |
| Utilities | Electric, water, and gas or propane disconnected by the providers. The septic tank located so equipment stays off it. |
| Clear-out | Personal items, appliances and anything that needs separate disposal taken out first. |
| Teardown | The home taken down with an excavator. Metal separated for recycling where it makes sense. |
| Haul-off and grade | Debris hauled to a licensed facility, and the spot graded so it is ready for the next home, a building or pasture. |
Mobile home teardown, step by step
- Step
- Paperwork
- What happens
- Statement of ownership checked. Salvage application filed with TDHCA, or the real property record confirmed. Taxes settled with the county tax office.
- Step
- Utilities
- What happens
- Electric, water, and gas or propane disconnected by the providers. The septic tank located so equipment stays off it.
- Step
- Clear-out
- What happens
- Personal items, appliances and anything that needs separate disposal taken out first.
- Step
- Teardown
- What happens
- The home taken down with an excavator. Metal separated for recycling where it makes sense.
- Step
- Haul-off and grade
- What happens
- Debris hauled to a licensed facility, and the spot graded so it is ready for the next home, a building or pasture.
Inside city limits, and homes left standing
Cities can require a demolition permit, so if the home sits inside a city, check its rules before the teardown.
A salvaged home should not be left standing for long. Section 1201.461(g) lets a county or city that finds a home declared salvage in its area impose the same inspection, correction and other requirements it could apply if the home were not a manufactured home.
Bottom Line
Check the statement of ownership, file the salvage application or confirm the real property record, settle the taxes, and sort out asbestos if more than one home is coming down. Then the teardown is the easy part. Tell us where the home is and what comes next on that spot, and we will quote the demolition and the site work after it.
Common questions
- Do I have to tell the state when I tear down a mobile home in Texas?
- Yes, for a home held as personal property. Texas Occupations Code Section 1201.461 treats a scrapped, dismantled or destroyed manufactured home as salvaged and requires the owner of a used home to apply to TDHCA for a statement of ownership showing it as salvaged. The application is Form 1023, with the Salvage box in Block 7.
- How much does TDHCA charge to file a salvage statement of ownership?
- Form 1023, revised September 19, 2025, lists $55 per transaction for normal processing, about 15 working days, plus $55 more to have it processed within 5 working days. Check the current form before you send payment.
- Can I sell a mobile home after it is declared salvage?
- Only to a licensed retailer. Section 1201.461(d) bars selling or transferring a salvaged manufactured home to a consumer, and it cannot be rebuilt for living in except under TDHCA's rebuilding rules.
- Does a mobile home demolition need an asbestos inspection?
- For a single home, normally not under the federal asbestos rule, which excludes residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units. According to EPA, two or more homes under the same owner, torn down as one project, can be covered. When several homes are coming down at once, get the inspection before work starts.
- What if my mobile home is listed as real property?
- Then it was converted, and under Section 1201.216 it is no longer regulated as a manufactured home under Chapter 1201; it goes with the land in the county's real property records. Ask TDHCA at (800) 500-7074 what, if anything, to file before the teardown.
Sources
- Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1201, current through the 89th Legislature (Sections 1201.205, 1201.2055, 1201.216, 1201.461), checked 2026-10-01
- TDHCA, Application for Statement of Ownership, Form 1023 (Rev. 09/19/25), checked 2026-10-01
- TDHCA, Salvaged Manufactured Homes procedures, Form 1118, checked 2026-10-01
- EPA, Asbestos National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), checked 2026-10-01
- EPA Region 5, letter on the Asbestos NESHAP residential building exemption (2021), checked 2026-10-01
Free Demolition Quote
Old mobile home on the property?
Tell us where it is and what comes next on that spot. We will look at the home, the access and the ground under it, then quote the teardown, the haul-off and the grading.
