How to Keep Garage Conversion In Law unit (Los Angeles, Pasadena: rent, lawyer)

[konception]

I am inheriting a house that had a beautiful garage conversion about 15 years ago 35K was invested in its beautiful dwelling.... They never got permits , the neighbors reported it to pay back not liking the tenant that rented the main house prob not for that it would have never been found. The trustee on the house never filed for appeal and only followed there direction to tear pipes down and cut electricity 5K was invested , which I would of rather that invested in a lawyer but I'm inheriting this white elephant and don't want it to get further torn down. any advice? any exceptions? i read something about if 15k was invested or something ?

[HyperionGap]

Make an appointment with the city building department and talk with someone. That's free. Talking with an attorney is not.

[CALGUY]

You are in luck.
The city council and mayor are developing plans to fix these garage and rear house dwellings that were not done with permits.
They will bring out code enforcement to inspect, tell you what needs to be brought up to code, and you can rent a dwelling that was once considered illegal.
No fines for building with out a permit, and no orders of tear down.
Just bring the building up to code, and that's it.
Bob.

[RZIPPER]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

You are in luck.
The city council and mayor are developing plans to fix these garage and rear house dwellings that were not done with permits.
They will bring out code enforcement to inspect, tell you what needs to be brought up to code, and you can rent a dwelling that was once considered illegal.
No fines for building with out a permit, and no orders of tear down.
Just bring the building up to code, and that's it.
Bob.

Hello.

I have this problem now. Code Enforcement wants it taken down by the end of the month.

Can you please give me more info?

I live in City of Downey.

[echoParkDate]

$500 cash to the code enforcement guy to look the other way and issue a letter of compliance?

This is pretty common in LA (or at least used to be, not sure these days). Dunno what its like in Downey.

[RZIPPER]

Originally Posted by echoParkDate

$500 cash to the code enforcement guy to look the other way and issue a letter of compliance?

This is pretty common in LA (or at least used to be, not sure these days). Dunno what its like in Downey.

I do not think that is a good idea. Our code enforcement is also the city police.

[JustMike77]

It depends a lot on what part of the city you're in. If you're in Pasadena, for example, you're out of luck. In the city of Los Angeles, the best way to permit a garage conversion is to build a carport to replace the garage parking. My ex-wife actually just did this and it all went fine. Talk to the code enforcement folks. Since the neighbor busted you, you will now have to deal with it.