AGO 1990-G-0309.

• Case Date: March 09, 1990
• Court: Idaho

Idaho Attorney General Opinions 1990. AGO 1990-G-0309. March 9, 1990OPINION NO. 1990-G-0309Mr. Clyde J. Morgan Property Tax Administrator Department of Revenue and Taxation STATEHOUSE MAIL THIS CORRESPONDENCE IS A LEGAL GUIDELINE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBMITTED FOR YOUR GUIDANCE Re: Mobile Home Homestead Exemption Dear Clyde: You have asked whether Senate Bill No. 1225, codified at Idaho Code §§ 55-1001, et seq., restricts the execution of a warrant of distraint against a mobile home for non-payment of property taxes. The issue presented is the relative priority of an individual's personal property tax obligation versus the protection afforded by the Idaho Homestead Act. It has not before been addressed in our state. The purpose of Idaho's homestead law is to "protect debtor's [sic] homes from action." Minutes of the Committee of Local Government and Taxation, 2-27-89. The Statement of Purpose for homestead bill S1225, later codified as Idaho Code § 55-1001 provides as follows: The law currently makes no mention of how a mobile home owner is to declare a homestead. Consequently, courts are consuming time and expense trying to determine mobile home Homestead status on a case by case basis. In general, homestead exemptions are designed to preclude seizure and forced sale of people's homes, with the underlying policy considerations of promoting "state stability and welfare through preservation of homes where families may be sheltered beyond the reach of economic fortune." (Emphasis added.) See Comment, Federal Tax Liens and State Homestead Exemptions: The Aftermath of United States v. Rogers, 34 Buffalo L. Rev. 297 (1985). Since the objective, then, of the exemption is not directed toward classification of the homestead property as real or personal property, but to protect the abode one calls home, a mobile home is exempt from attachment and from execution or forced sale for the debts of the owner up to the maximum homestead amount of $30,000 to the same extent a residence involving real property would be. The general rule regarding execution of tax liens against homestead property is that the taxing authority may proceed against homestead property as if no homestead existed. 40 Am. Jur. 2d 110; Iowa Mutual Insurance Co. v. Parr, 189 Kan. 475, 370 P.2d 400 (1962) 94 ALR 2d 960 (1964). Homestead rights are purely statutory...