Manufactured Homes in North Manchester, Indiana: Reading the HUD Label and Data Plate

North Manchester is a college town on the Eel River in northern Wabash County. Buyers here tend to ask good questions, and one of the best is: how do I know this is really a HUD-code home? The answer is on two small pieces of the house itself — the HUD certification label and the data plate.

The HUD certification label

Each transportable section of a manufactured home built since June 15, 1976 carries a small metal label, usually red, fixed to the outside near the tail-light end of the section. It shows that the section was built to the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. A two-section home has two labels.

The label number matters later. Lenders, insurers, appraisers and county offices may ask for it, and it is one way to confirm a home is a manufactured home rather than an older mobile home or a park model.

The data plate

Inside the home — often in a kitchen cabinet, a bedroom closet or near the electrical panel — is a paper data plate. It records:

• The manufacturer, plant location, serial number and date of manufacture.
• The wind zone, roof load zone and thermal zone the home was built for.
• The appliances installed at the factory.

Those zones are why a home built for northern Indiana suits northern Indiana: it is engineered for the snow load and winter temperatures here. The manufactured vs. modular guide explains how this code differs from the one used for site-built houses.

Why to keep a photo of both

Photograph the labels and the data plate on delivery day and keep the pictures with your title papers. If the paper plate is ever damaged, you still have the record, and you will have the numbers ready when an insurer, lender or buyer asks.

Common questions

Does a new Champion home have both?

Yes. Every HUD-code home leaves the plant with a label on each section and a data plate inside.

What if a used home is missing its label?

Ask the seller and the lender before you go further — a missing label can complicate financing, insurance and resale.

Where to next?

See our Wabash County page, browse the floor plans, or ask us a question.