Verify age by serial # and model #

[LeonardT]

I am a Realtor and we are trying to sell a Vindale doublewide home. We are told by the Owners that it is a 1978 but the outside labels are gone, probably sided over. We do have the serial and model number from the sticker inside the house. The Appraiser needs to prove that it is a 1978, can we do that with the numbers we have? The current Owner does have a FHA mortgae on the Mobile Home and we are trying to qualify it for a new Owner as a FHA Mortgage.

[rmurray]

IBITS is the official contractor of HUD to do these verifications. You can find info on the process and costs here;


http://www.ibts.org/label_req.shtml

Vindale was one of the earliest builders of true modular homes. If it is a true modular home it will have had a certification sticker somewhere in or near the panal box from the state it was built for. If it was a modular home there should be no need to verify the build date. FHA would finance it as a stick house with the same inspections required. A manufactured home built to the HUD code will have to be verified as actually built to the standard. All manufactured homes built after 1976 had HUD labels attached to the home (usually that is enough for an appraiser) you can see what they look like and location here;


http://www.ibts.org/certification_label.shtml

That "sticker" inside sounds like a HUD Data Plate that looks like this;

http://www.ibts.org/data_plate.shtml

If it does have the Data Plate it should have the date of manufacturer on it..

Good Luck