Manufactured Home
A manufactured home (formerly defined as a mobile home) is a structure that is defined as:
- Transportable in one or more sections.
- Eight body feet or more in width and 40 body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet.
- Built on a permanent chassis.
- Designed to be used as a single family dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities (includes plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical system contained in the structure).
Mobile Office
A mobile office is defined as:
- An industrialized building unit not subject to federal regulations, that may be constructed on a chassis for the purpose of towing to the point of use.
- Designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation.
- For commercial use and not for residential use and may be two or more units separately towable, but designed to be joined together at the point of use to form a single commercial structure.
- May be designed for removal to, and installation or erection on other sites.
There are no vehicle registration requirements for manufactured homes or mobile offices. Manufactured homes may be transported and delivered by obtaining a hauling permit. Mobile offices must obtain an office trailer plate by contacting DMV's Dealer Work Center.
Titling
To title a manufactured home or mobile office:
- Complete an Application for Certificate of Title - Manufactured Home (VSA-17B)
- Submit ownership documents
- Submit proof of address
- Pay the titling fee
- Pay the Sales and Use Tax (3% for manufactured homes; 2% for mobile offices).
Note: In addition to the titling fee, DMV collects a $30 fee from Manufactured Home Dealers for the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) at the time of titling. The DHCD fee is not collected on manufactured homes sold by an individual, out-of-state dealer or in a dealer-to-dealer sale.
Manufactured Home to Real Estate
To attach a manufactured home to real estate your DMV Virginia title must be cancelled. To accomplish this cancellation, you may surrender the Virginia title to DMV. You will also need to retain a photocopy of the title being surrendered.
Once the Virginia title is cancelled, DMV reports the title cancellation to the Commissioner of the Revenue (COR) in the appropriate locality. The COR will then assess taxes on the manufactured home as real estate and not tax it as personal property, as is done with vehicles.