What Is a 433A and Why Does It Matter for Manufactured Home Financing?
A 433A is the record that makes a California manufactured home on a foundation part of the real estate. Its full name is HCD Form 433A, the Notice of Manufactured Home, Mobilehome, or Commercial Modular Installation on a Foundation System. The local building department records it with the county recorder once the installation passes inspection.
For a buyer, the question is whether one has been recorded for this home. If it has, the home and the land are a single piece of real property and can generally be financed together. If it has not, the home is still personal property with its own title, even when it sits on land the seller owns. The difference between the two is explained in personal property vs. real property manufactured homes.
This only comes up for homes on land. A home on a rented space in a community normally stays personal property and never involves a 433A.
What recording a 433A changes
Until a 433A is recorded, a California manufactured home is titled and registered by HCD (the Department of Housing and Community Development), much as a car is by the DMV. After recording, HCD cancels its title record and the home is carried in the county’s real estate records along with the land.
Before and after a recorded 433A
| No 433A on record | 433A recorded | |
|---|---|---|
| Classified as | Personal property | Real property, an improvement to the land |
| Ownership record | HCD certificate of title and registration | The recorded 433A and the deed to the land |
| HCD’s record | Active title and registration | Title record cancelled |
| Property tax | An annual HCD fee or county tax on the home | Generally assessed by the county with the land |
| Financing that may fit | A home-only (chattel) loan | A land-and-home loan |
A recorded 433A is an important property record, but it does not by itself guarantee financing. The program, the appraisal and your own application still decide that.
How a home gets a 433A
An owner does not fill in a 433A and mail it to the state. It is the last step of a permitted installation, and the local building department (the form calls it the enforcement agency) completes and records it. Following the instructions printed on the form, the sequence generally runs like this:
From building permit to recorded 433A
- Permit The owner, dealer or contractor applies for a building permit for the foundation system and shows that the home’s registered owner owns or is buying the land, or holds a qualifying long-term lease.
- Lienholder consent Any lender with a lien on the home is paid off, or agrees in writing to the home being attached to the land.
- Installation and inspection The home is set on the foundation system and the building department inspects it.
- Title surrendered If the home already had an HCD title, the certificate of title, registration and decals are turned in. The HUD labels stay on the home.
- Recording The building department issues a certificate of occupancy, records the 433A with the county recorder, and sends a copy to HCD.
HCD’s registration and titling page confirms that a home installed on a foundation system is no longer registered with HCD. Building departments handle the details in their own ways, so confirm the current steps with the one that covers the property. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
How to confirm a 433A is on record
A listing that says “permanent foundation” or “real property” is a description. The recorded form is the proof, so ask for it.
One situation catches buyers out: a home that looks permanent but is not on record as real property. It sits on a concrete foundation on the seller’s own land, but no 433A was ever recorded. That home is still personal property: the land changes hands by deed and the home by its HCD title. What to check on that title is covered in California HCD title basics.
What a 433A means for the loan
With a recorded 433A, the home and land are appraised together and land-and-home financing may fit. Foundation requirements depend on the program, so the recorded form is one item in the review, alongside the appraisal and the title to the land.
Without one, the home is financed on its own as personal property, with a home-only loan. If your plan is to buy the home and land now and put the home on a foundation system later, say so before you make an offer. The order of permit, installation, recording and closing affects how a loan can be set up, and not every plan fits a program.
Looking at a California home with land? Talk with a specialist before you make an offer, and bring whatever the seller has: the recorded 433A or the HCD title.
