LENDERS AND REALTOR INFORMATION:

Nationwide: Engineer’s Certification For HUD Compliance

One of the most commonly requested documents by realtors, loan officers, processors and underwriters is a site-specific certification report (aka Engineer’s Certification) by a Professional Engineer certifying that a manufactured home’s foundation meets the requirements set forth in HUD’s Permanent Foundations Guide For Manufactured Housing, dated September 1996. Site specific means that the home is uniquely identified in the report by address, type of foundation and HUD label numbers. Along with the foundation, the certification usually includes language specifying that the home is in its original location and has not been moved other than from factory or dealer’s lot and that none of the modifications, alterations and additions to the home impact the structural integrity of the home.

In some cases if the data compliance plate is missing from the interior of the home, the Engineer may also need to specify that the Wind, Roof Load and Thermal Zones meet the minimum HUD requirements for the location of the subject property.

MH-Processing offers a management network of engineers, specializing in manufactured housing and knowledgeable about the HUD Permanent Foundation Guide.

California: 433A’s Or Curative Title

If you are dealing with a California loan product, whether it is conventional, VA or FHA, the first order of business is to determine if the home has a recorded 433A (this is the HCD Document referring to Statute 18551 stating that the home has been installed on a permanent foundation) on the property. This will usually be a requirement for ALTA 7 title insurance as well. Additionally, as mentioned above, on FHA-insured loans and some VA loans, the lender will require a HUD foundation certification by a licensed engineer.

If you are a lender or realtor working with a manufactured home, we are happy to help you research the 433A and if there is not a recorded 433A on the property, we can work with the appropriate contractor to retrofit the home, so a 433A can be recorded. California has 65 different building jurisdiction under the aegis of Department of Housing and Community Development, all with unique requirements, so it is important to have a company that knows how to navigate through the bureaucracies. In some cases, the local building jurisdiction has simply not properly filed the 433A and we can expedite the appropriate research and administrative requests.

For information or a request for cert or 433A, fill out our Request For Service or email us below: