Want to find out if you have a mobile or manufactured home? It boils down to a couple of things including the date the home was manufactured. Check out the article below by John Cain for more info.
Manufactured Homes and Mobile Homes - Whats the Difference?
Manufactured Homes are single family dwellings built in a factory after June 15, 1976, in accordance with federal construction standards. According to the Institute for Building Technology and Safety, Manufactured homes are "built as single-family dwellings with units of at least 320 square feet on a permanent chassis". The placement of each unit on a permanent chassis is done to ensure lifetime transportability of the home. Manufactured homes are constructed in units or sections and qualify as being called Manufactured Homes because of their compliance with the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards that were put into effect June 15, 1976. A Manufactured Home Owner may look for the documentation on their Manufactured Home that ensures that their Manufactured Home was built with these standards by locating the Certification Label and/or Data Plate on their Manufactured Home.
According to IBTS, "The data plate includes the manufacturer's certification that the home is designed in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's construction and safety standards in effect on the date the home was manufactured. HUD Standards include Body and Frame Requirements, Thermal Protection, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Safety, and other aspects of the home. The data plate includes the date of manufacture, name and address of the manufacturing plant, manufacturer's serial number and model, a list of certification labels applied to the home, major equipment, roof load, heating/cooling and wind zone information." The data plate can typically be found near the Manufactured Home's main electrical panel or the master bedroom closet door, utility or laundry room door, inside a kitchen cabinet or on the backside of a cabinet door.
The Certification Label contains important information about the Manufactured Home. "The Certification Label is permanently affixed to the exterior of each transportable section" and also serves as the manufacturer's certification that the home sections were built in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Construction and Safety Standards. All transportable sections of Manufactured Homes built in the U.S. after June 15, 1976 should contain both the Data Plate and Certification Label.
Mobile Homes are defined as homes that were constructed prior to June 15, 1976. In fact, it wasn't until 1982 when both Federal and California laws were amended to replace the term "Mobile Home" with "Manufactured Home". The name Mobile Home is still commonly used because of the volume of homes that were built prior to the constructions standards of 1976 and law changes of 1982. A Mobile Home Owner can determine the year their home was built by locating the Data Plate or Certification Label as mentioned above, or by locating their Certificate of Title and Registration Card that was issued by The Department of Housing at the time of purchase.
Knowing whether a home is a Mobile Home or a Manufactured Home is very important when Mobile Home Owners or Manufactured Home Owners are considering selling their home, or obtaining a Mobile Home Loan or a Manufactured Home Loan for refinancing, etc. Financing is available for both Manufactured Homes and Mobile Homes through companies like California Manufactured/Mobile Home Finance www.camhf.com, however, the year that a home was built does impact the terms and interest rate on a Mobile Home Loan or a Manufactured Home Loan in California.
John Cain has been financing Mobile Home Loans for 20 Years. For more information, please refer to our website http://www.camhf.com
