Hi patty_cakes42!

It varies from state to state. I live in Washington state and indeed you cannot call a room a "bedroom" if it doesn't have a closet. You are right--you can call it a den, an office--pretty much anything you like, just not a bedroom. The reasoning behind that law is that if you can call a room a bedroom without a closet, contractors or manufactured home builders would never put closets in--they'd save money and make it an add-on. It sounds like that's what happened to your son.

The previous owners of the 3/2 SW I'm buying ripped the closets out of two bedrooms, so legally they can't call them bedrooms. In my case it doesn't matter because I'm buying it from one of my best friends, but if I ever sell it I'll either have to put closets back in or call it a one bedroom with a den and an office. Hope this helps!

Agreed, it varies from state to state. Here in Vermont it can't be considered a bedroom unless it has a closet and a window large enough to be an emergency escape. Older homes that were built before a certain date are exempt.

Can anybody provide a link to a source verifying the existence of a law mandating closets in manufactured homes in their state?

I found real estate guidelines that mandate a closet, and HUD guidelines that mandate 2 forms of egress (door and window) minimum size (70 square feet, no smaller than 7 feet in the smallest dimension) and minimum ceiling height restrictions, but nothing about closets.

OOh! OOh! I FOUND it! The HUD standards do indeed mandate a closet.

"

§3280.109 Room requirements.

(a) Every manufactured home shall have at least one living area with not less than 150 sq. ft. of gross floor area.

(b) Rooms designed for sleeping purposes shall have a minimum gross square foot floor area as follows:

(1) All bedrooms shall have at least 50 sq. ft. of floor area.

(2) Bedrooms designed for two or more people shall have 70 sq. ft. of floor area plus 50 sq. ft. for each person in excess of two.

(c) Every room designed for sleeping purposes shall have accessible clothes hanging space with a minimum inside depth of 22 inches and shall be equipped with a rod and shelf.

[40 FR 58752, Dec. 18, 1975. Redesignated at 44 FR 20679, Apr. 6, 1979, and further redesignated at 58 FR 55004, Oct. 25, 1993]

"
The HUD Standards

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.

Cathy, thank you for your diligent research!! Now I have to wonder what else may have been left out or done imprroperly!! I forwarded this to my son, but he probably won't have a chance to read it until tonight. Again, thank you. I wouldn't have had a clue where to look! ;)

I would try to get in touch with the area HUD inspector and get the home/factory inspected.

Hi cathyyg! I'd like to join patty_cakes42 in thanking you for your research! I clearly remember when my now ex-husband and I bought a stick-built home in 1995 our realtor telling us a small room was a "den" and not a bedroom because it didn't have a closet, and that was mandated by Washington state law. When I mentioned that to my dad, he recalled that when he and my mom bought our family DW in 1973, they were given the option of a 4th bedroom or a den, the only difference being whether or not they wanted a closet put in. I wonder if this could be what happened with patty_cakes42's son. It would be a clever use of semantics and maybe somewhere in the paperwork it says the buyer could choose a bedroom or a den (office, rec room, whatever). That would be kind of an end-run around the spirit of the HUD regulation, in my opinion.

I agree it is some kind of end run around the HUD regulation. But if they advertise a "3 bedroom home, starting at $XXX" then the closets have to be included at that price.

So, what I am saying is that the closets can be left out to lower the cost of the house, but not charged for in addition to the base price if that base house is advertised as X number of bedrooms.

Excellent point, cathyyg! I did just notice something I hadn't before--probably you did, because you know so much about HUD regulations. But I noticed that while there has to be a clothes hanging rod and a shelf, apparently a closet door isn't required, merely a 22" depth? In my new place, for example, the previous owners took the closets out of two bedrooms, but obviously the indented space is still there. So, in order for me to call it a closet, would I only need to put up the rod and shelf, but not the doors? Rather academic for me, as I plan to live here for the rest of my life, but I am rather curious!

My son told me the dormers in the 4 upstairs bedrooms are where closets are *supposed* to be. It was described as a 5 bedroom house so I would have assumed closets should be included as in a stick home~ closets are automatically included and you need to ask about them. He hasn't talked to the manufacturer yet, and more than likely there's a warranty on finishing/fixing things that need doing. I am just astounded that this company would pull such BS!

Let us know how it turns out, patty_cakes42! I'm really curious now to see what the dealer says!

Yes, am anxious for my son to.move on this. I'm so concerned he might run into some sort of time frame. They were also told no interior painting could be done for at least a year. Is the wallboard different in manufactured homes?

The no painting is normal. It is to allow the home to settle, and any cracks in the wallboard to be fixed, before painting.

Cathy, I think I remember my son telling me that was the reason. Thank you for the reminder. ;)

Any updates on your son's closet situation, Patty?

Hi Debbie, no. My son has been burning the candle at both ends with work. I don't know if there is a time constraint of having everything completed within the first year, so need to push him to find that out. Thank you for reminding me and taking the time to post. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you too!

YES, there is definitely a time constraint on the manufacturer's warranty and the dealer's warranty.