Houston, TX asked in Business Law, Construction Law, Contracts and Real Estate Law for Texas

Q: We bought a mobile home on a 25 year contract, but it is not structurally what they told us it would be. Lawsuit?

Can a mobile home manufacturer sell me a house on false pretenses? The manufacturer told us on the phone with the sales person that all studs on the interior of the home would be on 6” centers. That’s not the case. There are 24” centers in the entire inside of the double wide mobile home. It’s 2025 model and I feel like we’ve been ripped off.

2 Lawyer Answers

A: Your rights will depend heavily on your sales contract, warranty, and other written documentation. It would be extremely unusual to be able to enforce a verbal conversation with a sales representative that substantially varies from the contents of those documents.

That being said, most single story dwellings are constructed using studs that are on 16-inc or 24-inch centers. Six-inch centers would be extremely unusual. On the other hand, while homes are often constructed using 2x4 inch studs, the exterior walls of manufactured homes are often constructed using 2x6 inch studs, both because of thermal insulation and to withstand higher winds. Six-inch studs are a selling point for this reason.

Absent some written documentation stating the studs would be on six-inch centers, I would want to make very certain that there was not a misunderstanding between you and your salesperson in which you were thinking six-inch centers and the salesperson was saying six-inch studs.

Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer

A: I agree with my colleague. It sounds like a mistake or misunderstanding in communication. Six-inch centers are not industry practice. Local building codes might offer additional information on spacing. Good luck

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