FHA Manufactured Home

FHA defines a “manufactured home” as a structure that is transportable in one or more sections, and is designed and constructed to the Federal Manufactured Construction and Safety Standards and is so labeled. To be eligible for FHA mortgage insurance, all manufactured homes must comply with the following:

• Have a floor area of not less than 400 square feet.
  Measurement is based on the overall length, including living areas and other projections that are at least seven feet in height. Length and width should not include bay windows, roof overhangs, drawbars, couplings or hitches. Each manufactured home must have a data plate with the name of the manufacturer and the construction date.
• Be constructed after June 15, 1976, in conformance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, as evidenced by an affixed certification label in accordance with 24 CFR 3280.11(manufactured homes produced prior to that date are ineligible for insured financing).
• Be classified as real estate (but need not be treated as real estate for purposes of state taxation).
• The mortgage must cover both the manufactured unit and its site and shall have a term of not more than 30 years from the date amortization begins.
• Be built and remain on a permanent chassis.
• Designed to be used as a dwelling with a permanent foundation built to FHA criteria.
• The finished grade elevation beneath the manufactured home or, if a basement is used, the grade beneath the basement floor shall be at or above the 100-year return frequency flood elevation.
• All manufactured home permanent foundation systems must follow the FHA guidelines in effect at the time of the certification. Currently, these guidelines are published in the Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing (PFGMH), The guidelines include submission of a certification from a licensed professional engineer, or registered architect, who is licensed/registered in the state where the manufactured home is located, attesting to compliance with the current guidelines.
  • A copy of the foundation certification, showing that the foundation meets the guidelines published in the PFGMH that were in effect at the time of certification, is acceptable for future FHA loans, provided there are no alterations and/or observable damage to the foundation.
• The unit must not have been previously installed or occupied at any other site or location, except from the manufacturer or the dealer’s lot as a new unit.
• The borrower must own the land on which the manufactured home is situated in fee simple.
• All manufactured housing must be permanently affixed to each transportable section of the manufactured home evidencing compliance with the HUD Codes. If the HUD Certification Label has been removed, compliance may be evidenced using the HUD Data Plate located near the main electrical panel or in another readily accessible and visible location. The HUD certification number appears on each HUD Certification Label on each section of the manufactured homes, and all HUD certification numbers for the manufactured home are found on the HUD Data Plate.
  • For a manufactured Home that has had the HUD tags removed and/or the appraisal does not reflect the photos, a HUD Label Verification Letter must be ordered, see: Institute for Building Technology and Safety aka IBTS (click here).