The Coalition is leading an examination of manufactured housing and its role as affordable housing. We also created and printed a limited number of booklets, titled A Consumer's Guide to Manufactured Housing, available in both Spanish and English. The booklets are 50 pages long and include checklists for consumers to cut out and an extensive glossary. To order one, or for more information, call us at (919) 881-0707 or email us.

They will send you a form to file a formal complaint which you must mail in.  Please contact us if you have had trouble getting satisfactory resolution to your issue after filing your complaint.

Background

A manufactured home (also called a "mobile" or "HUD Code" home) is a type of house that is built in a factory according to federal US Department of Housing and Urban Development code standards. A complete house, or sections, is then transported to a retailer for display and sale. The home has a structural frame or chassis that supports the complete unit of walls, floors and roof. Underneath is a running gear consisting of wheels, axis and brakes for transportation to the homesite.

A manufactured home is different from a travel trailer, in that a trailer can be towed behind a car. Manufactured homes are not built for traveling and cannot be towed by the family car. They are built to be a permanent residence, although they can be transported to different sites by professional movers.

Many people buy manufactured homes because of the lower costs of purchasing and maintaining them. A notable advantage of purchasing a manufactured home is that buyers feel like they have instant housing. Manufactured homes are particularly popular in the South; in North Carolina, manufactured homes accounted for 38% of new home starts in the 1990's.

However, there are many disadvantages associated with manufactured homes. One major downside is that manufactured homes, unless on foundations, are considered personal property (like cars) rather than real property, and their value depreciates with time, rather than appreciating like a stick-built house.

Every potential purchaser must educate himself or herself before buying. For a checklist of tips and items to examine before and after purchase and setup, click here. This will open our Consumer's Guide to Manufactured Housing.

You must have Adobe Acrobat to read the .pdf files posted here. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, click the Adobe icon to download the software.

For more information:

Manufactured Housing in North Carolina: Current Issues and Future Opportunities by Courtney Weill, NC Housing Coalition, 2002.

"Why Advocates Need to Think about Manufactured Housing" by Richard Genz. General overview of manufactured housing, causes and effects, from a housing advocate's perspective.

"The Impact of Manufactured Housing on Adjacent Site-Built Residential Properties in North Carolina"--1999 study by Guoquiang Shen, Ph.D., and Richard Stephenson, Ph.D., of East Carolina University Department of Planning. Studies differences in sales value and assessed value of manufactured homes over time in five NC counties. www.sit.ecu.edu/up-dept/

The Manufactured Housing Research Alliance, in cooperation with the HUD and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing has a new guide available. "Manufactured Homes: Saving Money by Saving Energy," presents practical, energy-saving tips, techniques, and recommendations for owners of manufactured (mobile) homes. It explains and illustrates how energy retrofits for manufactured homes can lower energy costs, protect against future energy cost increases, improve comfort, increase resale value, and enhance environmental stewardship.

"Manufactured Homes: Saving Money by Saving Energy" is available here as a free download, and can be ordered in print for a nominal charge from HUD USER at 1-800-245-2691.