Cassandra Hui – Page 12 – Specialized Tinys

Do I Need a Permit or a Title for a Tiny House on Wheels?

This article has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial policy.

There are still many unknowns when it comes to tiny houses. One question that many people ask is if they need a permit for their tiny house on wheels.

So, do you need a permit for a tiny house on wheels? You do not need a permit for a tiny house on wheels (THOW). Whether you are buying or building your own THOW, there will not be a permit involved. However, there are some things you will need and regulations that still apply to your tiny house, including titles and certifications. Building a tiny house on a foundation will require a building permit.

Building or buying a THOW can be daunting, but there are some simple items you should have with each house. Building a tiny house on a foundation is much different and will have additional requirements, including a building permit.

My husband and I have been building and living in tiny houses for years now! We want to help others understand the process.

What do You Need to Legally Own a Tiny House on Wheels?

You build a tiny house on wheels by mounting and building the house on a trailer. All trailers are required to have titles, thus you will need a title to own a THOW. However, the title only applies to the trailer, and not technically the rest of the house.

Along with your title, you should get a certification for your tiny house. Most THOWs have certifications through either RVIA or NOAH, this means that they meet a certain minimum building standard. These are currently the only recognized certifications for THOWs in America.

These certifications are not required when buying or building a tiny home. However, almost all RV parks or Tiny House parking locations require one of these certifications in order for you to stay there.

You do not need a permit with your THOW, however, you should get a title and certification for your home. There are many different laws when it comes to living in a tiny house or building one, but all you need is a title to legally own your THOW.

What Do You Need to Legally Build a Tiny House on Wheels?

Social media portrays building your own tiny house as a weekend hobby that even extremely inexperienced people can complete in a summer. That is simply not the case unless you want a home without any electrical, plumbing, or even other aspects of a standard house.

However, for someone who is mechanically inclined, building your own THOW is achievable. All you need when building one of these is the title. This does depend on what you will be doing with the house, living in it causes more legal red tape.

If you plan to live in your THOW full-time, then it now becomes and home and must follow certain building codes. These vary depending on where you live, the country, state, and county. Many places do not allow you to live in a tiny house, although there are typically loopholes and workarounds.

Do You Need a Permit When Building a Tiny House on a Foundation?

Yes, you will need a building permit when building any size structure you plan to live in. You do not need a building permit to build a small structure, in most places, such as a shed. But once you plan to live in any structure the laws change drastically.

Again, building a house, even one small in size, is not a small feat and should not be taken lightly. Unless you plan to only have an upgraded camping experience. However, when building a home to live in, you will need a building permit and to follow standard building codes.

Building a tiny house on a foundation is difficult, legally speaking, in many places with strict regulations and laws against them. Zoning is the first battle you will face, and there are others after that. You will need to do a sufficient amount of research before you apply for a building permit for a tiny house on a foundation.

Do Building Codes Apply to a Tiny House on a Foundation?

For the most part building codes do apply when building on a foundation. There can be different regulations for building a tiny house depending on how you list it. A tiny house on a property with a larger home can be listed as an ADU or Accessory Dwelling Unit.

Typically, all building codes will apply to a house built to be lived in but this could vary depending on where you live. Getting your own land for your house or making it an ADU will change the way the law looks at it but not necessarily the codes that are required to be met.

If My Tiny House on Wheels Did Not Come with a Title, How Do I Get One?

This can be a bit tricky if your THOW did not come with a title. A title is used to show ownership and for registration. If you are not moving the house on public roads or concerned about ownership then this may not be important. However, it will likely come in as a factor when selling the house.

There are two ways you can get a title to a THOW that you bought used. The first, and best option is to get the previous owners to get a duplicate title. The second option is to apply for a bonded title.

Obviously, the best way is to get the previous owners to get a duplicate title. When we sold our first house we lost the title right before the sale! It was a little more difficult because we were living and selling the house in Virginia, however, it was still titled and plated in Utah.

We were able to call the Utah DMV and ask about the process of getting a duplicate title. Most states make it fairly easy. All we had to do is mail in the proper paperwork with a check for the duplicate title fee and in a week or so we got our title mailed to our Virginia address.

The other option, if the previous owner will not get a title, is to apply for a bonded title.

Be very careful if your THOW does not come with a title! Given the mobility of these homes, they are often stolen. It is not a bad idea to have a GPS installed in your house. I have heard too many stories of homes being stolen while the owners were out.

Here is the basics to getting a title for your trailer:
(It could vary depending on your state, but this is pretty standard.)

Contact Your Local DMV
Fill Out the Necessary Documents
Wait for Approval

Purchase a Surety Bond
Apply for a Bonded Title

A bonded title means that the original owner never provided the title and you are certifying that you bought or were given this trailer, without the proof of ownership. The DMV will check their theft records and require you to get a surety bond.

This bond means that if the original owner comes back with the title and makes a claim to your trailer the surety bond company will pay them a fair price and you are responsible to pay back the surety bond company. Source.

This could mean you are living in someone else’s stolen house! So please be careful.

House Update

We have been slowly adding to our home. Walls are mostly up, besides some trim and shower walls, the ceiling is in progress. We’ve added some storage and a fold down table.

Follow our blog to see updates!

Journey through our homes. Part 1: The Maverick

This is our personal story on how we went tiny and all of the homes we built.

In the Spring of 2015, David asked me what I thought about living in a tiny house. At that time we were living in an one bedroom apartment that was about 990 square feet and I thought he was crazy. But, before too long I began to change my mind. I saw how passionate he was about this and I knew he really wanted a home. Thinking about it more, I knew we were moving to Utah in several months and probably another couple states after that. Renting seemed like a waste and buying a house was not a good option. Eventually I was convinced.

The next week he bought a trailer. He started drawing plans and we talked about ideas. We were unsure if his sister was going to live with us so we decided on a two bedroom house. He created one of the best designs that was ever built. Later we found out that another tiny house company loved it so much, they had one built from our pictures online and used it as their demo model.

At the time David was building our new house I had moved to Salt Lake City, UT for my new promotion. Only being a 5 and a half hour drive to Vegas, I was able to visit a few times as the house was built. I thought I was crazy. When I saw the space laid out for the bathroom, I didn’t even think I could turn around in it! But, we continued to build.

Eventually the time came that we needed to move into our house, even though it was not completely finished. The first step was to pull the house 400 miles! We had bought a diesel truck that was capable of pulling something so heavy. This was a 35 foot tiny house made almost entirely our of wood, weighing in at 16,750 lbs. We successfully pulled the house in 7 hours, besides having issues with our truck overheating (we found out later that it had a blown head gasket and that sucker still pulled it all the way).

We, unfortunately, did not have quite enough time to finish the house. David, at this point, was not sure how to hook up the solar and we did not have our wood stove yet. So our only source of power was a small generator. We had a bed and boxes full of our stuff. Power was a little difficult. We could not run the generator constantly or we would run out of gas every day. We only turned it on when we needed it.

The biggest problem was heat. I was living in our house in Utah and David was traveling back and forth between Utah and Vegas, where he was working temporarily. I was using a small propane heater at night, it kept me warm enough. But Utah gets very cold in November. One night it froze everything under the house, being on wheels makes it harder to keep the house warm. Our thankless water heater froze and we had to buy a new one. The next day, David drove back to install a wood stove for me and only stayed that night before going back to Vegas.

Moving into our tiny house was not without it’s issues, but it also gave us a new look on life. It would have been much smoother if we had been able to get advise or if the house was finished. But we worked through it. And we had a home. David started working for another tiny house company and became good friends with a guy who helped us set up our solar. Of course, we still did not have anyone to ask advise from because almost no one who builds tiny homes actually lives in them.

We loved our home. We moved it around a few times until we found a more permanent place. We continued to work on it until it was mostly done. I began to embrace the tiny house life and I never felt like it was small, even the bathroom was plenty big enough!

After living in Utah for a year we decided to move again. We ended up moving back to Virginia, where we originally lived. We took our house with us and lived in it there for another few months, before we sold it so we could build another. Which led to another dilemma, where to live in the meantime!

To be continued in Part 2.

Author: Cassandra Hui