February 15, 2016
Recently we wrote about HUD’s proposed rule changes for manufactured housing standards to exclude certain recreational vehicles from the same requirements as home manufactured as permanent living spaces. In light of that recent news, it’s a good idea to review FHA home loan rules for manufactured housing, mobile homes, etc.
The first requirement for an FHA home loan on a manufactured home/mobile home is that the home must be classified as a single-family dwelling. It must be no less that 400 square feet and must end up being affixed to a permanent foundation.
Other requirements include having a HUD Certification Label affixed or the home must have “obtained a letter of label verification issued on behalf of HUD, evidencing the house was constructed on or after June 15, 1976, in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards”.
In cases where the certification label is missing, FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 do provide a required course of action:
“If the appraisal indicates the HUD Certification Label is missing from the Manufactured Housing unit, the Mortgagee must obtain label verification from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS).”
FHA loan rules also require the lender to get certification that the permanent foundation meets certain standards. “The Mortgagee must obtain a certification by an engineer or architect, who is licensed/registered in the state where the Manufactured Home is located, attesting to compliance…”
What’s more, FHA loan rules say the lender also has the ability to get a copy of the foundation certification from a previous FHA mortgage loan, “showing that the foundation met the guidelines published in the PFGMH that were in effect at the time of certification, provided there are no alterations and/or observable damage to the foundation since the original certification.”
The property is required to be classified as “real property” or real estate, but HUD 4000.1 also points out that the home need not be subject to state taxes for real estate.
FHA loan rule also require the home to “have been directly transported from the manufacturer or the dealership
to the site.” This is a very important aspect of manufactured housing borrowers should know as this rule directly affects the borrower’s ability to get a mortgage on a specific mobile home depending on whether it meets this requirement or not.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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