Do you own a manufactured home that you are trying to sell or re-finance? Or are interested in purchasing a manufactured home using a mortgage lender?

If so, you have probably noticed that there are additional criteria required in order to purchase a new or existing manufactured home. Mortgages are available for the purchase of new or existing manufactured homes, but they often require a foundation certification or design. The reason behind this is that most mortgages written by a lender are almost certain to be insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As a condition of providing insurance, the FHA requires that the foundation for new homes be designed by, and the design sealed by a licensed Professional Engineer. The design must comply with FHA guidelines. For existing homes, a Professional Engineer is required to certify that the foundation meets the FHA requirements. The HUD Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing, publication number HUD-007487 is the basis for the FHA requirements.

In many cases, a foundation certification is required on a manufactured home to verify that the foundation is present, permanent, and functional.

A permanent foundation is one that is “constructed of durable materials (concrete, mortared masonry, treated wood) and be site built”. Since the manufactured home isn’t site built, it’s important that the foundation be certified to be site built. HUD states that the foundation of a manufactured home must “have attachment points to anchor and stabilize the manufactured home to transfer all loads to underlying soil or rock. The permanent foundations shall be structurally developed in accordance with this document or be structurally designed by a licensed professional engineer.”

The only way for the lender to verify that the above criteria are met in an individual manufactured home is to have the foundation inspected and have an engineer certify that specific foundation.

At Safety 1st Home Inspection, we are not structural engineers, but we have partnered with one of the country’s largest engineering firms that specializes in the certification of permanent foundations for manufactured housing. We can help you and your lender get the engineering certification needed for the permanent foundation of your manufactured home. Give us a call. We would love to help.