Manufactured Home question.

[BenLuby]

Just ran into a new problem with a manufactured home. Seems that the Manufactured home, a Heritage model, has recently been newly sided.
When I called to schedule the appointment, the homeowner put me off for a week. Notified the lender, they said no problem, it was not a rush.
Well, they put me off for a week because of the siding being installed.
Unfortunately, the HUD tags are now covered by brand new vinyl siding.
Anyone (Read that Goddess of Manufactured Homes), know of a way to get the numbers without ripping the new siding off? They tend to put those stupid tags in several locations, so it would be problematic to pinpoint their location exactly.
I have the date of manufacture, serial number, and all that good stuff, but no tag numbers. Help.

 

[John M. Parker]

In our area the affivdavit of affixture has both the serial number and HUD #, plus size of unit etc. Check public records first.

Then if that fails and they are still arround call dealer, they have the form 500 on file this plus the invoice should have it.

If all else fails get out your pry bar. :wink:

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

By the way John, the HUD # is not on the affidavit of affixture just the VIN (AKA serial number). The serial number is what is used for ownership identification and only lenders worry about HUD #.

Ben: Since the HUD # was covered up, look for a letter sized piece of paper inside the home, might be in the master closet, in a cupboard in the utility room or kitchen, on the wall by the electrical panel, inside the door of the closet for the furnace that has a map of the USA on it with insulation requirements. That is the Data Plate, also called a Certificate of Compliance or a version thereof. At the upper left will be the date of manufacture, the name and location of the manufacturer and the serial numbers that are used for ownership purposes. There will be only one Data Plate, regardless of the number of sections. But there is a HUD number and label for each section. Some times, but not always the HUD number will be there also. If the HUD number is not on the piece of paper the lender (for FHA it is the lender's responsibility) can contact either the Washington office or the manufacturer or the Inspection Agency (the manufacturer should have a record that cross references the serial number with the HUD number and they can tell you/lender which inspection agency completed the inspections in that factory at that time). The inspection agency has to have a cross referance between the serial number and the HUD number. If all else falls, the property owner's ownership papers should have the serial number and again somebody can do some cross checking to find the HUD #. Some states (but not Arizona) won't allow a home to be resold without the HUD #, that is why lenders are so paranoid about it. As well as the HUD # indicates compliance to HUD building code. If there isn't a HUD # anywhere because the home was not constructed to HUD code it could be a modular constructed to UBC or BOAC or CABO or (heaven forbid) a mobile home constructed prior to June 15, 1976--which really messes things up.

 

[jtmilby]

Ben,

I had the same identical problem Saturday.

This manuf. home was a Heritage model, with new siding. I found the information you need on the back wall of the cabinet under the sink. It had the HUD, VIN, Model, Make, Year, etc.

Hope this will help you.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I've had at least three of the exact same situations in the last year. On the last one, the siding had been replaced due to storm damage.

What I do is take the year that the owner says the house was built and work with that for my appraisal report. Then I condition the report on certification from the manufacturer of the HUD code for that house they set up. This puts the problem of getting in touch with the manufacturer or the dealer in the lap of the owner.

Chasing manufactured housing numbers or HUD Code numbers down is not, IMNSHO, part of the appraisal process.

They prove to me that it is a HUD Code house with numbers and I take the "subject to" off the report. The longest it has taken anybody is 10 days to get the information back to me.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Richard:
When the HUD label has been removed or covered up, do you take a photo of the Data Plate instead (if you can find it)? That has the year of manufacture on it and the serial number. I put a photo of the Data Plate in the report and then put all the info from the Data Plate for the year, manufacturer, serial numbers and HUD numbers (if there) in my addendum to the report. After that it becomes the underwriters decision of whether to accept the the Data Plate info or they do some more research. I don't make my report subject to because the Data Plate proved to me that it was or was not HUD code. Thats my proof of why I used all manufactured homes for comparables and not site built homes like the home owner and loan officer wanted!

 

[Richard Carlsen]

You bet I put photo of the data plate in the report and each HUD plate when they are there. If the data plate is there, I too use that for proof of it being a HUD mansec. But many times that get ripped out of the closet or the electrical panel cover and you have nothing left to verify on site. FHA clearly states that if the label is missing off the outside of the house, it is not eligible for HUD financing. The data plate is not sufficient as I read the instructions.

One of my big wishes would be for the HUD manufacturers to be required to permanently put the data plate in the house in one common location, under plastic, for future reference.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

I wished they would do that too! After I have torn up the house looking for the Data Plate, I tell the home owner to protect that piece of paper with their life from now on--it will need to be refered to many times in the future.

The National HOC Referance book now makes it the underwriters responsibility to track down HUD numbers if they are missing or covered up. So an appraiser completes the report with all the information available and then the underwriter has to verify that it was built to HUD code before the transaction is complete. So that Data Plate can become very important and the appraiser forges onward with the report. because if the underwriter can verify the HUD code, the home can still be financed.

 

[Ross (CO)]

I also will take a picture of the red tags and include them on an extra subject photo page. I can get good resolution with my camera from about 18" away, shot on a slight angle, with the tags zoomed-in to fill the width of my viewer. Take another for good measure, from the "other side", again at an angle in case the lighting is better. So long as one can read the stamped serial # you're o.k. as the rest of verbiage is known. ....Short of that, however, it ought to be standard procedure for a loan originator to go through their checklist....for the borrower who lives in mfd. home....and remind them of the importance of being able to show the appraiser where the red tags are, or the Certificate of Compliance, and to get out all your papers of ownership and registration so that he or she can write down the data "WE" will need. I will try to touch on that stuff when I set such an appmt. with h/o...but sure would be nice to have the loan-prep side of the process be one step ahead of us !

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Ross: That is NOT the serial number on the HUD label! The serial number which is used for ownership purposes is a completely differant animal than the HUD number and although cross referenced they are used for two completely different purposes.

Serial number---chain of title, ownership purposes

HUD number---verification by Inspection Agency that home was built to HUD building code, construction purposes