(a) Duty.--It shall be the duty of the county assessment office to assess all mobile homes and house trailers within the county according to the actual value thereof. All mobile homes or house trailers which are subject to taxation as real estate as provided in this chapter shall be assessed and taxed in the name of the owner. The land upon which the mobile home or house trailer is located at the time of assessment shall be assessed separately and shall not include the value of the house trailer or mobile home located thereon.

(b) Records.--All mobile home court operators, which shall mean every person who leases land to two or more persons for the purpose of allowing the lessees to locate on the land a mobile home or house trailer which is subject to real property taxation, shall maintain a record of the leases, which shall be open for inspection at reasonable times by the county assessment office. Each month, the mobile home court operator shall send a record to the county assessment office of the arrivals and departures of mobile homes or house trailers in the court during the prior month, including the make, model, manufacturer, year and serial number of the mobile home or house trailer.

(c) Notice.--Each person in whose name a mobile home or house trailer is assessed, rated or valued as provided in this chapter shall be notified in writing by the assessor that it shall be unlawful for any person to remove the mobile home or house trailer from the taxing district without first having obtained removal permits from the local tax collector.

(d) Removal permits.--The local tax collector shall issue removal permits upon application and payment of a fee of $2 and of all taxes levied and assessed on the mobile home or house trailer to be moved.

(e) Penalty.--Any person who moves a mobile home or house trailer from the territorial limits of the taxing district without first having obtained a removal permit issued under this chapter shall, upon summary conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and costs of prosecution or to imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.

(f) Characterization of property.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a mobile home or house trailer upon which a real property tax is levied as provided by law from being deemed tangible personal property for other purposes.