Foundation certification for a manufactured home

HUD's permanent foundation guide

HUD says the guide helps prepare the worksheets needed to apply for an FHA mortgage.

Source: What the HUD guide is

What FHA requires of the foundation

For an FHA mortgage, the home must be designed as a dwelling on a permanent foundation built to HUD's Permanent Foundations Guide (PFGMH).

The lender must get a certification from an engineer or architect licensed in the home's state that the foundation complies with the guide.

A lender may reuse the foundation certification from an earlier FHA-insured mortgage if the foundation has not been altered or visibly damaged since.

For a home set within the last year, the space under it must be enclosed by continuous foundation-type construction built to resist the forces on it.

Source: FHA needs a permanent foundation

FHA's other requirements for the home

FHA requires a floor area of at least 400 square feet and a home built on or after June 15, 1976, shown by its HUD label.

The home must be classified as real estate, though it need not be taxed as real estate.

The towing hitch and running gear must be removed.

FHA requires the space under the home to be properly enclosed.

Source: Size and age

Making the home real property

In Texas a manufactured home is personal property unless the owner elects real property on a Statement of Ownership application recorded with the county clerk.

Texas allows the real property election only when the home is attached to land the owner owns or holds under a qualifying long-term lease.

Any liens on the home must be paid off, or the lienholders must consent in writing, before the election.

Source: Texas: personal property unless elected