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21st Mortgage vs. Triad Financial: The 2026 Comparison
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The two biggest names in manufactured-home financing. Different rates, different footprints, different approval curves.
If you're buying a manufactured or modular home in 2026, 21st Mortgage and Triad Financial are the two largest specialty lenders in the space. Both underwrite chattel loans, land-home packages, and refinances. The differences matter more than most buyers realize.
Why this makes sense right now
Manufactured Housing Institute reports 21st Mortgage handles ~34% of specialty MH originations; Triad handles ~22%. Cascade handles ~14%. Together the three lenders finance over 70% of US manufactured home purchases.
The layout — head-to-head
Parent company
- 21st: Clayton Homes / Berkshire Hathaway
- Triad: Independent (Sun Capital Partners)
Loan types
- 21st: chattel, land-home, refinance, land-in-lieu
- Triad: chattel, land-home, refinance
Credit floor
- 21st: 575 typical
- Triad: 600 typical
Rate range 2026
- 21st: 7.5%-10.5%
- Triad: 7.75%-11%
Down payment minimum
- 21st: 5% with strong credit; 10-20% typical
- Triad: 5-10% with strong credit; 10-20% typical
Loan terms
- 21st: 15-25 years
- Triad: 15-23 years
Closing time
- 21st: 30-60 days
- Triad: 25-50 days
Modular financing (IRC-code)
- 21st: yes, land-in-lieu construction available
- Triad: yes but less common
Speed of decisioning
- 21st: 5-15 business days typical
- Triad: 5-10 business days typical
Financing math
$180K manufactured land-home loan, 720 FICO:
- 21st: 8% for 20 years = $1,505/month
- Triad: 8.5% for 20 years = $1,562/month
$180K same borrower with 620 FICO:
- 21st: 10% for 20 years = $1,738/month
- Triad: 10.5% for 20 years = $1,798/month
21st wins on both rate and monthly for both credit scenarios in this example. Real quotes vary.
Choose 21st if...
- Credit is below 620
- Buying a Clayton, Freedom, or CMH Homes product (Clayton ecosystem)
- Land-in-lieu construction needed
- Modular financing needed
Choose Triad if...
- Credit is 640+
- Buying a non-Clayton manufactured home
- Faster decisioning matters
- Land-home structure with existing land preferred
The quiet part.
21st Mortgage is Clayton's captive lender. It's incentivized to close Clayton deals — which sometimes means better terms for Clayton-branded homes and less flexibility for others. Triad is independent — it competes on rate and closing speed across brands.
For a Clayton-family purchase, 21st is almost always the right first call. For any other manufacturer, get quotes from both.
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