How to Get 433A Certification for Your Manufactured Home

To get 433A certification for a manufactured home in California, you install the home on a permanent foundation under a local building permit, pass the final inspection, and let the local enforcement agency record HCD Form 433A with the county recorder. Recording that form, issued under Health and Safety Code Section 18551, is what converts the home from personal property to real property. You then surrender the home’s original title to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for cancellation.¹

Whether You Qualify to File

You need a qualifying interest in the land under the home. The statute accepts written proof that you own, hold title to, or are purchasing the real property where the home will sit on a permanent foundation. A lease works too, but only if it runs at least 35 years (or a shorter term the parties mutually agree to), is transferable, and cannot be revoked at the landlord’s discretion except for defined legal cause such as nonpayment or breach.¹

Residents in mobilehome parks that have converted, or are converting, to resident-owned subdivisions, stock cooperatives, or condominium projects can use proof of their ownership interest in the park instead. If you simply rent a pad in a traditional park without a qualifying long-term lease, the 433A path is not open to you.

Building Permit and Foundation Standards

Nothing on the site can start until the local building permit is issued: not construction, not grading, not even vegetation removal. The foundation has to comply with Health and Safety Code Section 18551 and California Code of Regulations, Title 25, Section 1334, which together set the engineering rules for permanent manufactured-home foundations.²

In practice, that means a concrete or masonry foundation anchored to the earth to resist wind and seismic forces without overturning or sliding, designed for the specific loads of your home. An engineered plan is almost always required. Your local enforcement agency, usually the county building department, reviews the plans during permitting and inspects the work at multiple stages, including before concrete is poured and after the home is set and fastened.

Locate the HUD Labels and Data Plate

You will need identifying information from the home itself to complete the form. Every manufactured home built after June 15, 1976 carries HUD certification labels on the outside of each transportable section (one per section, so a double-wide has two) and an interior data plate. The data plate is usually in a kitchen cabinet, near the main electrical panel, or in a bedroom closet, and it lists the manufacturer, model, serial numbers, wind zone rating, and date of manufacture.³

If a HUD certification label is missing or damaged, HUD does not reissue them. You can request a Letter of Label Verification from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) through its online portal or by calling (866) 482-8868. Before doing that, check your original financing paperwork, because lenders typically record label numbers at closing. A missing label can stall the entire process, so verify this early.³

What Form 433A Requires

The form is available on the HCD website or from the local enforcement agency handling your permit. For each transportable section, it asks for the manufacturer name, model name or number, date of manufacture, serial number, and the CA insignia or HUD label number. If the home was previously registered as personal property in California, you also list the HCD registration decal number.⁴

You will also enter the full legal description of the real property exactly as it appears on the grant deed, the assessor’s parcel number, and the property owner’s name and mailing address. Pull the legal description straight from the deed. Paraphrasing it, or copying from a tax bill, is one of the more common reasons a 433A gets bounced back at recording. The APN is what ties the recorded form to the correct parcel so title companies and lenders can find it later.⁵

Final Inspection, Certificate of Occupancy, and Recording

After the home is set on the foundation and all connections are complete, the enforcement agency conducts a final inspection to confirm the installation matches the approved engineered plans. Passing it triggers issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

Within five business days of issuing that certificate, the enforcement agency must record the signed 433A with the county recorder in the county where the property sits. The enforcement agency does the recording, not you. Once recorded, the county recorder indexes the document to the named property owner, and it serves as constructive notice to any later buyer, lender, or title insurer that a manufactured home has been permanently affixed to that parcel.¹

Fees

At the time the certificate of occupancy is issued, a fee of $11 per transportable section is due to HCD. The enforcement agency transmits that fee along with a copy of the building permit and other information HCD prescribes. County recording fees also apply and vary by county, typically starting at $25 for the first page plus a few dollars per additional page, with possible surcharges.¹

Surrender the Title and Clear Any Liens

Recording the 433A is not the last step. You must surrender the home’s original Certificate of Title, or the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin for a new unit, to HCD for cancellation. For used homes, outstanding titles must be surrendered before installation is completed.²

Once the title is cancelled, HCD removes the unit from the mobilehome registration system. The home stops accruing state registration fees and becomes subject to local property taxation by the county assessor. Future transfers happen by deed, the same way conventional real estate changes hands.²

Existing liens on the home recorded against its title as personal property, such as a chattel loan from a dealer or bank, have to be addressed before or during the conversion. A lender holding a personal-property lien will typically need to consent to the title cancellation and either release the lien or convert it to a deed of trust against the real property. Skipping this creates a title defect that can block future sales or refinances.

What Changes After the 433A Is Recorded

Financing options open up. As personal property, a manufactured home can only be financed with chattel loans, which carry higher rates and shorter terms than conventional mortgages. Once the 433A is recorded and the home is classified as real property, it becomes eligible for standard mortgage products. FHA and VA programs require the foundation to meet HUD’s Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing (HUD 4930.3G) along with local building codes, and most lenders want a licensed engineer’s foundation certification confirming that. Fannie Mae’s MH Advantage program adds further requirements, including minimum size, an MH Advantage sticker from the manufacturer, and appraiser photos of the sticker, the data plate, and the HUD labels.⁶

Taxes shift as well. The county assessor picks up the home as an improvement to the parcel and adds its value to the assessed value, and you pay through your county property tax bill instead of paying HCD registration fees. The change also opens the door to the homeowner’s property tax exemption and, for qualifying owners, Proposition 13 protection on annual assessment increases.

Insurance moves from specialized chattel or mobile-home coverage to a standard homeowner’s policy, which typically covers the structure, other structures on the lot, personal belongings, liability, and additional living expenses. Premiums depend on the home’s age, location, and condition.

1
California Legislative Information. Health and Safety Code 18551
2
Department of Housing and Community Development. Information Bulletin 2006-05 – Requirements for Manufactured Homes, Mobilehomes and Commercial Modulars Installed on Foundation Systems
3
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Manufactured Housing HUD Labels (Tags)
4
Department of Housing and Community Development. Information Bulletin 2021-06 – Revisions to Form HCD 433A
5
California Department of Housing and Community Development. HCD 433A – Notice of Manufactured Home, Mobilehome, or Commercial Modular Installation on a Foundation System
6
Fannie Mae. Manufactured Housing Product Matrix