Manufactured Home Addendum/Fannie Mae

[larryhaskell]

I know we have had numerous discussions about this addendum. However, I don't remember any discussion relative to Fannie Mae requiring the addendum on all appraisals. I have an LO in our area hounding me to sign off on the addendum they sent me. I provided them the Alamode version on only those items that fall under my license. He says he has talked to numerous appraisers in the area who claim Fannie Mae now requires the form. Supposedly, the appraisers he talked to claim we can complete the form if we have a certificate from the county. My response was, then if Fannie Mae claims we can sign off with the certificated, why don't they just accept the certificate. What say ye Fannie Mae/manufactured home experts.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Fannie Mae DOES NOT have an addendum for manufactured homes. Section 304 - Factory Built Housing describes what their requirements and concerns are regarding both manufactured and other types of factory built housing. There are certain things an appraiser must identify and report on in some way in the final report--but there is not a specific addendum that they require. Fannie Mae wants to know what type of factory built home it is, if it was designed as a one family dwelling, has assumed the characteristics of site built housing and is legally classified as real property and has a foundation that is appropriate for the soil conditions of the site and designed to meet local and state codes. Appraisers are not engineers or professional installers or licensed contractors so they cannot certify the anything regarding soil or foundations. An appraiser can only report what they can see. If the client wants verification about the soil and/foundation they will need to contact somebody else--an engineer, the local governing authority or a licensed installer or contractor--not the appraiser. That applies to all factory built homes, whether built to HUD code or UBC or BOAC or CABO or whatever local building code was followed. Under their definiition of manufactured home they only require the appriaser to report the information on the HUD Data Plate/Compliance Certificate that is located inside the home (not the red HUD label that is attached to the left rear of each section by the way).

Fax your client a copy of Section 304!

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I will certainly bow to Jo Ann's expertise in this matter.

My own experience with this form from a la mode has been nothing but good. I use it on every manufactured house I do. I refuse to answer any questions for which I have no expertise or knowledge of such as footing being below the frost line and the foundation being designed by an engineer for the soil conditions. If they want that information, they can hire an engineer to make those determinations. Researching building permits and building inspector’s field notes is not part of the appraisal process. I tell anybody who calls with a request for additional information that the county in question has a building code and if a Certificate of Occupancy was issued, it is reasonable to suspect that the property in question has a foundation that meets the required codes. BUT, I am not going to say or certify anything about the foundation that I cannot see from standing outside the house even if I am told by the county building inspector that it does meet code because I am not qualified to do so. My degree is pre-law (I'm sorry) and not architectural engineering. Let the building inspector so certify.

This type of certification is not part of the appraisal process. Nor is the tracking down old copies of Certificates of Occupancy or county building inspections. Whenever I need a copy of a COO, it is the homeowner and/or the lender who are responsible to get the copy to me. Not the other way around as some may think.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

The answer "NO" is the correct response. The problem is they are used to dictating what they want to appraisers and the appraisers happily obliging. After all, when confronted we are always the only appraisers in the world that will not cooperate. So, do you have a backbone or don't you? If you don't, don't feel bad because 99% of the field just does not care and will give them what they want. The answer lies within you.

 

[larryhaskell]

Tim:

I said no before I posted. The information they received was pretty much what Jo Ann indicated we are required to provide. Thanks Jo Ann. I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't missing any Fannie Mae changes. I did talk to the head of our state board & she confirmed that I was 100% correct. Nevada is big on licensing all professions & they can get real nasty when someone goes beyond the scope of their license.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Sorry, Larry, I did not mean to imply you did not have proper ethics. I just understood that the lender was doing their usual pressure to get you to do something outside of what is required of appraisers. It happens all too often and too often appraisers oblige. I just reviewed a proposed construction appraisal for a MH where the appraiser just checked yes on all the appropriate boxes and they could have no idea because it was not installed yet and there was no mention of proper foundation installation in the appraisal or the final inspection. Well, guess what, under foreclosure, one of the stipulations is the installation of a proper foundation. Once again, I was not implying anything about you although it appears that way, my post was more directed at uninformed readers to this post. Sorry

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

I mentioned to the other appraiser in my office that FNMAE no longer required an addendum and he produced one that says Federal National Mortgage Association; Manufactured Housing Requirements at the top then goes on to state what is required (too long to repeat). There is a check list of Yes and No answers and at the bottom is a line that says Appraiser Signature and Date.

Perhaps this is an old form, but it is one of many that we have been sent over the years.

My experience is that most lenders have their own form that they like used and most of them just ask standard questions, like was it built after 1976, have wheels, axles, etc. been removed.....things that an appraiser can see.

Is this just an old form, Jo Ann?

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

If it doesn't have a Fannie Mae report number at the bottom, for example "Fannie Mae Form 1004", then it is not a Fannie Mae form. I have never seen a form issued by Fannie Mae since I went into fee appraising in 1982. I have seen lots of lender's prepared forms that they have tried to browbeat me over the head with, but none with an "official Fannie Mae form number". So if your example has a number, fax it to me 928-348-9971 and I will check it out with Fannie Mae. Think I will go wandering around on their site under forms and see what I can find. I have a form I created for when I can't convice a lender that it is not necessary. I just went through the Fannie Mae guidelines and typed their sentences. If I lose that battle too--I answer almost every question with "appraiser not qualified, client needs to contact a licensed engineer or contractor or the applicable government authority". In the mean time I am stomping and swearing and my husband decides he better go do some field work for a land survey instead of office work since our desks are side by side.

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

I'm at home now and will FAX the form to you tomorrow. It was FAXed to my appraiser at one time (he doesn't remember when) and doesn't have a form number that is readable. That was suspicious to me. I like the idea of telling the ones who demand these addendums that FNMAE does not require them. But as long as it is something that we are qualified to do.....or answer...then OK.

The biggest gripe I have and I mentioned it in other threads, is that the lenders who want them all have their own!!!

In one case that I remember, we re-typed an appraisal to three different lenders (with release permission from each of course) and each one of them had a slightly different one and would not accept the other!!! Amazing...

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Judy

Most lenders make up their own forms to make sure that the manufactured houses meet the requirements. These questions are direct answers to the published requirements for making a loan on a manufactured house..

My question is this; when did appraisers become engineers? Why would anyone “certify" something that they are 1. Not qualified to certify and 2. Not getting paid to put their neck in the noose. This type of certification is not part of the appraisal process. You answer what you see, hear, smell, feel, and touch at the subject as it relates to VALUE and nothing more.

Don't let them pass this off on you. They are only trying to save money by having the appraiser do it.