Installation Date of a Manufacture Home

[snider635]

I was wanting to check and see if anyone has come across a situation were they are having problems finding the original installation date of there subject property.

The property Im appraising is a 1980 single wide manufacture home. It has a hug tag, and I have also aquired the affidavit of affixture from the records office. The recorders office records show that the property was affixed in 1989.

The home owner is claiming this is incorrect and the manufacture home has been on the parcel since before 1985.

If anyone has any suggestion on how I can find out the exact installation date of the a manufacture home please let me know.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Was the professional installer's insignia still on the home? Although after 25-30 years if would be so faded and beat up, it would be very difficult to read. What county is the property located in? You would need to find the original installation permit from the county/city zoning/building department. Is this for a FHA loan since they only allow a manufactured home to be moved once from the factory or the sales lot to the site? Conventional loans don't care if it has been moved more than once.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

I forgot to answer part of your question. The recording of the Affidavit of Affixture does not have any thing to do with the date the manufactured/mobile/on frame modular was installed on the site. The Affidavit of Affixture is strictly a paper trail to enable the home to be taxed as real property. There is no physical inspection or verification that the home is actually on the property. An extreme example could be a travel trailer attached to a semi with the motor running could have an Affidavit of Affixture recorded and be taxed as real property. A manufactured home ground set with a site built roof over it, walls, fences, buildings, surrounding it so it could not ever be physically moved would still be taxed as personal property if an Affidavit of Affixture was NOT recorded. And an Affidavit of Affixture would not be required to be recorded if the owner didn't want to--as long as they never tried to obtain a mortgage on the property.

 

[casurf2020]

If I have one in Maricopa county where I have the HUD tags on the outside, but no label on the inside as they replaced the cabinets, where could I find this information? My mentor told me that she attended your class once and you had told everyone how to find them, but she didn't remember, so I am researching. Thanks in advance. Sheryl

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

The HUD labels on the exterior is the proof that the home is a manufactured home constructed to the HUD building code. If the professional installer's insignia is still attached that tells you the date the unit was installed on the site--if more than one, there could be several explanations. If the labels are a few days or weeks apart that means the first installation didn't pass inspection and they had to redo something or two different contractors were there at different times. If several years apart, it means it was installed on a different site and the current site is not the original one--which makes it ineligible for FHA. If the data plate on the inside is gone--it is gone forever and can't be replaced. The Affidavit of Affixture would report the model year, which could be different than actual construction date. Manufactured homes are like cars on one respect. A home constructed between about September 2008 to September 2009 would be called a 2009 model on the Affidavit of Affixture, even though it construction was complete on September 1, 2008--the true year of construction. Did the property owner save the data plate or door it was attached to by any chance? If you can't find the data plate you will just have to report the model year from the Affidavit of Affixture--I always get a copy of the recorded Affidavit of Affixture and scan it into my report. If you can't find it on the recorder's web site contact your client and ask them which title company is handling the escrow, call that title company and ask them to fax or email you a copy of the Affidavit of Affixture--they have to find it for the client before close of escrow any way.

 

[casurf2020]

I did not find it on Maricopa county assessor web site. I clicked on every document in history and then tried looking through all of the documents for each sale/transfer. If I am looking the correct place, then I didn't find it.

I was able to get the date of installation, make and serial number from the department that you had posted on this forum some time ago, I called them and at least go that much information.

I will try to call the client and see if they will give me title information and go from there. No, the home owner said that the cabinet doors, had been replaced prior to them buying it in 1991. The dealers should do a better job relaying to people that purchase these homes, how important that piece of paper is. It sure has caused me some extra time on this one.

Thanks for all of the valuable information that you replied with, it is appreciated greatly. Thanks again!!

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

The Affidavit of Affixture is on the recorder's web site, not the assessor's. It would be indexed in recorder's records by name, so to find it you might have to go back through several ownerships. Unless you can find it by lot number if it is a recorded subdivision. It also might have been recorded some time between 1981 when Affidavits of Affixture went into effect to the date the recorder started their scanning project, that date varies from county to county. If an Affidavit of Affixture has been recorded the owner would not have a title any more but should have a copy with their deed or a reference in their ownership documents.

The only information the county assessor has is the model year and the factory list price after depreciation and appreciation has been applied. They don't have the size or square footage in their records. Some of the counties other than Maricopa have the information as the last line of the legal description.