Licensed real estate agents must know if a home is a manufactured home, or a modular home when listing or selling the home, and licensed real property appraisers who use comparables from MLS sources must ensure the comparable was listed correctly.

Both homes are built in a factory and delivered to the site and installed. However, each home is built to a different building code; manufactured homes are built to the HUD Code, a federal building code, and the home has a red HUD Label on the back of each section of the home; a modular home is built to the International Residential Building Code 2006 and has a State of Alabama Modular Insignia inside the home, usually on the electric panel box.

Definitions:

Manufactured Home:
A structure defined by and constructed in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, Title VI-MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS as amended by the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000, Title VI 42 U.S. Code, Section 603(6). A Manufactured Home bears a RED HUD Seal affixed to the rear of each section of the home. The home was built after June 15, 1976.

Mobile Home:
This is a home that was manufactured in a factory prior to June 15, 1976. It does not bear a HUD Seal.

Modular Home:
A modular home is built to the International Residential Building Code 2006. It is a factory-built home consisting of units designed to be incorporated at a building site on a permanent foundation and to be used for residential purposes and which bears an insignia that indicates compliance with the codes and requirements established by the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission (International Building Code) Alabama Code 24-4A. The Insignia is placed on the electrical panel door of a residential modular home.

Site-Built Homes:
Homes constructed by a builder or contractor on-site that may meet standards set by the local building code. In Alabama, this is the International Residential Building Code.

For additional information, you may contact Doris Hydrick, Executive Director AMHA.