Serial Number Question

[Destiny]

Hi,

My husband and I are needing to locate the serial number of a 1978 mobile home. This home has had many additions and improvements to it. We have checked the cabinets, closets, drawers, breaker boxes....everything. We have only found one serial number but due to wear I am not sure if this is the number for the mobile home itself, and I cannot even figure out who the manufacturer is. We were preparing to go under the home to locate the serial on the frame. However, the home has been put on a permanent foundation and I am afraid the crossbar that has the cold stamped serial has been removed. Could you tell me if SN210-128891 is the serial number for the mobile home, or where I could find the serial number on the frame of a 1978 doublewide?

[rmurray]

This number is probably not a serial number..in 78 the number would have ended in A/B ..which really is 2 numbers one for each half..There would have been 2 titles in most states..Usually the local taxing authority has records of the make, model and Vin (vehicle Identification number).

A few states might not have had titles Alabama comes to mind. A 1978 model would be built to HUD specs which did require a laminated paper data sheet which has all the information. They were usually fixed to a wall in a closet or water heater area, sometimes on the back of a cabinet door..If it is a 1978 it DID also have a HUD seal fixed to the side. It is a RED metal plate about 2x3 inches on the side of the home. It WILL have the HUD certification number on it. HUD contracts with an organization called IBITS to keep the records and make them available to the public..Use the search function at the top of this post to see many other posts on this subject..

[Destiny]

We have checked in all of the cabinets, closets, and inside doors and find no trace of the data sheet. There has been so much work to this home that it was either removed or painted over. The HUD label was removed from the exterior when new vinyl siding was added to the home. We have checked the tax records, and they show no record of it being a manufactured home. The title is long sense gone. There has been so much work on the home that an appraiser was only able to tell it was a mobile home because the frame is still under it. The code that we found was on a label that was inside the seal of one of the original windows. The home is on a permanent foundation and the hitch has been removed, is there anywhere else on the frame that it may be located or do we just need to try to search the whole frame.

[David Oxhandler]

Finding the correct number on the home could be a real problem after so many years, but perhaps not imposable.

Most places in the country required a permit to install a manufactured home... even back in 1978 serial numbers were required, in most places, on the permit application. Records that old have not be computerized by most local governments. Find out how the archives are accessed by your county or town building permit authority.

We have installed vinyl lap on several of our older homes. There is no reason to remove the red HUD plates that are fixed to the rear (opp the hitch) end. We have always lapped over the tags. Unless you witnessed the removal of the tags, one or both of your tags may still be in place under the lap. You can get an inexpensive tool at any home improvement center, that will permit you to easily remove and reinstall sections of vinyl lap.

It is not likely that The front bumpers of your doublewide sections have been removed, even though the home has been set on a foundation. All of the frame members except the "A" hitch part are structurally significant to supporting the wood frame.

The front bumpers may have been covered by earth or lap siding or some style of skirting that was backfilled, but I would bet that they are still in place. Unless they have been encased in concrete there should be a way to expose them. The condition of the steel and readability of the serial numbers will depend on the climate where you live and amount of moisture that bumper has been exposed to over the years. If it is covered by vinyl lap or other material that protected it from exposure you could get lucky.

If your home has been insured continuously since it was installed your agent may be able to back track to the original policy which would have almost certianly contained the serial number.


Don't feel like you are alone. Questions about finding MH serial numbers been have the all time highest posts in these forums. If you would like to read some of the past responses visit our archive by clicking here

[mare1958]

We have been thru the same thing with our manufactured home. It was built in 1977, but apparently not purchased until 1980. We purchased it in 1984, and I KNOW the number was in a cabinet in our utility room. However, we replaced those cabinets, not knowing that number was so important. We too have re-sided our home, so the HUD tag is not visible. I have been to our county real estate office, county recorder, I have called the title company where we last closed on a refinance, I went to the zoning board to check out permits - nothing. There was a permit to put in our foundation, but nothing to put up the house. Times have changed since it was first put up in 1980. I'm afraid to call our insurance company because what if they do not have the number, but now tell us the home is uninsurable without it? The way our luck is going on this, it wouldn't surprise me. Our home is on a concrete block foundation, so we're debating whether getting the tool to check under the siding or chipping away the concrete blocks will be the easiest way to go. Otherwise, our sons will have this white elephant house on their hands when we die.

[David Oxhandler]

Open the siding and check the red HUD tag on the side of the home that is opposite where the hitches were.

[Mwren]

would any happen to be ale to tell me how to look up a serial number . I hve the nuber but cant look it up for information