Chassis-free manufactured homes, state by state

Every state’s certification deadline

Deadlines from Section 301(c) of Public Law 119-101. Changes are enacted laws we have read.

Initial certification deadlines under 42 U.S.C. 5403(i): July 11 of the year shown. As of October 11, 2026, a ● marks an enacted change to the state’s own definition. No dot means none confirmed, not that the state’s law already complies or that none is pending.

State laws changed so far

• California, SB 996 (Ch. 995, Stats. 2026). Signed September 30, 2026. Has the state housing department permit chassis-free manufactured homes on the same terms as homes on a chassis by July 1, 2027.
• North Carolina, Session Law 2026-59, § 5. Signed August 11, 2026. Rewrites the state’s manufactured home definitions to follow 42 U.S.C. 5402(6) “as amended,” effective October 1, 2026.
• Florida: No manufactured or mobile home chassis bill among the Florida Senate’s 2027 bill filings as of October 11, 2026.

What a state has to certify

Section 301(c) adds subsection (i) to 42 U.S.C. 5403.

By the deadline, a state must submit to HUD an initial certification that its laws and regulations:

• treat any home meeting the federal definition the same as the manufactured homes the state already defines and regulates; and
• subject a home without a permanent chassis to the same laws as one built on a chassis, including financing, title, insurance, manufacture, sale, taxes, transportation, installation and other areas HUD sets with the consensus committee’s approval.

A state that runs its own manufactured housing program certifies in its state plan. Any other state files an attestation by an official, in a form HUD prescribes, that the state has done what is needed, including, as necessary, amending its definition of a manufactured home and directing state agencies to amend theirs. A state certifying outside a state plan must also confirm each year, on a date HUD sets, that the first certification still holds and that no new law has changed it; the law says a certification in a state plan needs no separate filing.

What happens if a state misses the deadline

The consequence is a ban on chassis-free homes in that state, not a fine.

The law defines a covered manufactured home: one built after July 11, 2026 that meets the federal definition but that a state does not count as a manufactured home because it has no permanent chassis. If a state does not certify on time, or misses an annual recertification, it must prohibit the manufacture, installation and sale of covered homes within its borders. In a state where HUD, not the state, runs the installation program, HUD and the state must both enforce the ban.

A state can still certify late, but HUD may not lift the ban for a late certification unless it approves it. Homes on a chassis are unaffected either way, and Section 301 does not narrow the HUD code’s existing preemption of state and local construction codes.

Why Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas have until 2028

The law gives two years, to July 11, 2028, to “a State with a legislature that meets biennially,” and doesn’t name any. On the National Conference of State Legislatures’ 2026 session calendar, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas held no regular session in 2026; every other state did. Those four are the states the extension appears to cover. HUD has not published its own list.

What HUD has and hasn’t done

Section 301(e) authorizes HUD to help develop model guidance for the certification, and the certification subsection requires it to publish the list of states that are up to date. As of October 11, 2026, a search of the Federal Register found neither. HUD’s Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan, released October 7, 2026, lists seven actions, mostly on construction and installation standards, and does not mention the state certification, its deadline or the ban.

Separately, chassis-free homes cannot be built at scale until HUD writes construction and installation standards for them, which the law gives no deadline. A state that certifies on time will be ready for homes that may not yet exist; one that doesn’t will have to keep them out once they do. The manufactured housing guide covers the standards, energy rules, loan limits and grants in the rest of Title III.

Questions

Sources

1. U.S. Government Publishing Office, “Public Law 119-101, Section 301”
2. Legal Information Institute, “42 U.S.C. 5403, including subsection (i), manufactured home certifications”
3. Legal Information Institute, “42 U.S.C. 5402, definitions”
4. Legal Information Institute, “42 U.S.C. 5408, cooperation with states, including model guidance”
5. National Conference of State Legislatures, “2026 State Legislative Session Calendar”
6. North Carolina General Assembly, “Session Law 2026-59, Section 5”
7. California Legislative Information, “SB 996, Chapter 995, Statutes of 2026”
8. The Florida Senate, “2027 bills”
9. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan, October 7, 2026”

More on the law: The ROAD to Housing Act explained · Environmental review changes · CDBG and HOME changes · Opportunity Zones · The Innovation Fund · The Build Now Act · Manufactured housing and the chassis rule · How RESIDE grants should be sized · The ban on large investors buying homes