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Mobile & manufactured home glossary

Short, neutral definitions of common mobile and manufactured housing terms. These are general explanations, not legal advice.

A

  • Abandonment — When a resident leaves a home or lot without notice or intent to return; state law sets how a community may treat an abandoned home.
  • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) — A federal civil-rights law barring disability discrimination; for housing, disability protections often run through the Fair Housing Act.
  • Anchoring (tie-downs) — The system of straps, anchors, and foundations that secures a manufactured home against wind, flooding, and movement, governed by state installation standards.
  • Articles of incorporation — The founding document filed with the state to create a corporation, including the nonprofit or cooperative entity behind a resident-owned community.
  • Automatically renewable lease — A lot lease that renews on its own unless properly ended; its renewal provisions may not transfer to a buyer when a home is sold in place.

B

  • Bylaws — The internal rules that govern how a corporation operates day to day, including the cooperative behind a resident-owned community.

C

  • CC&Rs (covenants, conditions & restrictions) — Recorded rules that govern how property in a community may be used; they can apply alongside a state's manufactured-housing statute.
  • Certificate of title — The ownership document for a manufactured home treated as personal property, often issued by a state motor-vehicle agency much like a vehicle title.
  • CFPB — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency overseeing consumer financial products, including many manufactured-home loans.
  • Change in use — When a community's land is converted from manufactured-home lot rentals to another use; statutes often impose special notice and protections.
  • Chattel loan — A loan secured by a manufactured home as personal property rather than by real estate; common when the home sits on land the owner does not own.

D

  • Dealer (retailer) — A business that sells manufactured homes to the public, often also arranging financing, transport, and setup; usually state-licensed.
  • Deed — The legal document that transfers ownership of real property; a manufactured home conveyed by deed has been treated as part of the real estate.
  • Deficiency judgment — A court judgment for the remaining balance a borrower still owes after repossessed or foreclosed collateral is sold for less than the debt.
  • Depreciation — A decline in a property's value over time; manufactured homes treated as personal property may depreciate differently from real-property homes.

E

  • Eviction — The legal process by which a community ends a tenancy and removes a resident; manufactured-home statutes usually limit the allowed grounds.

F

  • Fair Housing Act (FHAct) — The federal law prohibiting housing discrimination based on protected characteristics; it can apply to manufactured home communities.
  • FHA loan — A mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration; certain FHA programs can be used to finance manufactured homes that meet requirements.
  • Force-placed insurance — Insurance a lender buys on its own and charges to the borrower when the borrower's required coverage lapses; often more costly and narrower.

G

  • Ground lease (lot lease) — A lease of the land a manufactured home sits on, separate from ownership of the home itself; the basis of most lot tenancies.

H

  • Habitability — The general legal expectation that rented premises meet basic health and safety standards; how it applies to lot tenancies varies by state.
  • HUD — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal agency that administers the construction standard for manufactured homes.
  • HUD Code — The federal construction and safety standard for manufactured homes, in effect since June 15, 1976, that distinguishes manufactured homes from older mobile homes.

L

  • Land/home package — A transaction that combines the purchase of a manufactured home and the land it will sit on, often financed together as real property.
  • Lease assumption — When a buyer of a manufactured home takes over the remainder of the seller's existing lot lease, common when a home is sold in place.
  • Lien — A legal claim against property that secures a debt; on a manufactured home it is often recorded on the certificate of title.
  • Lifetime lease — A lot lease meant to last for the resident's lifetime; often not freely transferable to a buyer, which can affect selling a home in place.
  • Lot rent — What lot rent is, what it usually covers, and how it differs from owning the land your manufactured home sits on.
  • Lot rental agreement — The contract between a manufactured home community and a resident for renting the lot the home sits on, setting rent, services, and the rules that apply.
  • Lot rental amount — The total of the financial obligations a resident must pay as a condition of renting a lot in a manufactured home community, often broader than base rent.

M

  • Manufactured home — A factory-built home constructed to the federal HUD Code, in effect since June 15, 1976; the current term for what was once called a mobile home.
  • Manufacturer — The company that builds a manufactured home in a factory to the federal HUD Code, distinct from the dealer that sells it.
  • Mediation — A process where a neutral third party helps a community and residents try to resolve a dispute; some statutes provide for it over rent increases.
  • Mobile home — The older term for a factory-built home, generally one built before the federal HUD Code took effect on June 15, 1976.
  • Modular home — A factory-built home constructed to the same state or local building codes as a site-built house, rather than to the federal HUD Code.

P

  • Park owner (operator) — The owner or operator of a manufactured home community that rents lots to residents; the other party to a lot tenancy.
  • Pass-on charge — A cost a community passes along to residents, such as a tax or utility increase; some states define and limit how these may be charged.
  • Pass-through charge — A resident's proportionate share of certain government-mandated costs that a manufactured home community passes along, usually a narrow, defined category.
  • Permanently affixed — A manufactured home installed on a permanent foundation in a way that ties it to the land, often a precondition for treating the home as real property.
  • Personal property — Movable property owned separately from land; a manufactured home with its own title is usually personal property until it is affixed and the title retired.
  • Prorated rent — Rent calculated for a partial period rather than a full month, common when a tenancy begins or ends midway through a billing cycle.
  • Prospectus (offering circular) — A disclosure document some states require a manufactured home community to give prospective residents, describing the lots, rules, fees, and rent practices.

Q

  • Quiet enjoyment — A tenant's general right to use rented premises without unreasonable interference from the landlord; it can apply to lot tenancies.

R

  • Real property — Land and the things permanently attached to it; a manufactured home can become real property when it is permanently affixed and its title is retired.
  • Records request — A resident's request to inspect community or association documents; rights to records depend on state law and the type of community.
  • Rent control / rent stabilization — Laws that limit how much or how often rent may rise; for manufactured-home lots they exist in some places but not most, and usually locally.
  • Repossession — When a lender takes back a manufactured home securing a defaulted loan; a deficiency judgment may follow if the sale doesn't cover the balance.
  • RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) — A federal law governing disclosures and practices in real-estate settlement, which can apply when a manufactured home is financed as real property.
  • Right of first refusal (ROFR) — A legal right that gives residents or their association a chance to match an offer and buy their community before the owner sells it to someone else.
  • ROC (resident-owned community) — A manufactured home community that the residents own collectively, usually through a cooperative, instead of renting lots from an outside owner.

S

  • SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) — A federal law providing legal and financial protections to active-duty service members, which can apply to leases and certain obligations.
  • Security deposit — Money a resident pays a community to hold against unpaid rent or damage; state law often governs limits, handling, and return.
  • Setup (installation) — The process of placing and securing a manufactured home on its site, including foundation, anchoring, and utility connections, under state standards.
  • Single-wide / double-wide — Common descriptions of a manufactured home's size by the number of factory-built sections joined together at the site.
  • Submetering — Measuring each manufactured home lot's individual utility use with its own meter so the community can bill residents for what they actually consume.

T

  • Title retirement — The process of cancelling a manufactured home's separate vehicle-style title so the home is treated as part of the real estate it sits on.
  • Truth in Lending Act (TILA) — The federal law requiring lenders to disclose key loan terms and costs, which applies to many manufactured-home loans.

U

  • USDA loan — A rural housing loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; certain programs can finance qualifying manufactured homes in eligible areas.
  • User fee — A charge for an optional service a manufactured home resident chooses to use, often treated differently from required charges that make up lot rent.

V

  • VA loan — A home loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; some VA programs can finance manufactured homes that meet requirements.