questions about the legality of renting out a room in pittsburgh (Highland Park: apartment, rental)

[morningsiderules]

just curious, if anyone knows about the legal side of renting out a room in your home in Allegheny county.
i was wondering if I'm legally allowed as a homeowner to rent out my attic.
we live in Morningside and we have rented the third floor of our home to a nice woman who studies at CMU, its working out great.
but this afternoon we had a little spat with our very old school nextdoor neighbor, who yelled several times about us having an illegal renter. we have no human issue with our neighbor, our spat was regarding her inability to control her dog.
so, i'm wondering if anyone knows about the legalities of renting/room mating. there are so many universities in the area, i assumed it was 100% kosher.
am i breaking some law, that i didn't know about? do i need a permit, to do this?
there are 3 adults living here, my husband, myself, and now, our new roomie, and then one child.
my neighbor is a little nuts, so I'm just preparing for the worst.
or if someone can point me in the direction of where i can find zoning info about this, that would be great.
thanks
naima

[sparrowmint]

I know you need a housing rental permit with the city (and I think most jurisdictions around here) before you can rent a unit, but I don't know if it's different if the landlord is also living in the same home. In other areas I've lived, there was a clear difference in the law between renting out an apartment/duplex/house to someone and renting out a room within an owner-occupied home.

[Hopes]

You can share your house with anyone you please.

You are sharing the house, right? It's not like she has a separate entrance to a fully equipped apartment in your attic.

If your attic is an actual apartment, there might be a problem with not having proper fire escapes and permits.

If the attic is just another bedroom and you share other rooms in the house, there's nothing illegal about sharing your house.

[morningsiderules]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You can share your house with anyone you please.

You are sharing the house, right? It's not like she has a separate entrance to a fully equipped apartment in your attic.

If your attic is an actual apartment, there might be a problem with not having proper fire escapes and permits.

If the attic is just another bedroom and you share other rooms in the house, there's nothing illegal about sharing your house.

Thanks, Hopes, this is what we thought. The attic is just another bedroom, in our house. We share all common areas.

But, its a small town and our next door neighbors saw our roommate ad on the Highland Park Listserv and she has sort of been injecting herself into this process, which should have been none of her business, since the beginning.
Our relationship is a little tenuous because of her constantly barking and overly aggressive dog.

We just bought the house in march and we choose it, because, the massive amounts of space gave us the freedom to get a roomie to help with the relatively massive mortgage.

Anyway, Thanks again. I think we might have to go to the mattresses with crazy lady and her totally messed up, aggresive barking dog.

[Hopes]

As a dog lover, I sense you might be contributing to the ill relationship you are having with your neighbor.

Don't go to the mattress. Try to find a high road.

[Copanut]

I'd say you are in the clear. Unless you rent out to about 10 other people and clog the streets with cars, the authorities won't even bother. Push comes to shove, tell 'em it's a distant cousin and he/she lives there for free.

[morningsiderules]

Originally Posted by Hopes

As a dog lover, I sense you might be contributing to the ill relationship you are having with your neighbor.

Don't go to the mattress. Try to find a high road.

Actually I've been very kind to her about her aggressive barking dog. But he got out and ran on my porch barking and acting insane and she couldn't control him to get him home.

Since its not the first or even second time it's happened, I will probably call animal control.

I wanted to make sure I didn't have an "illegal renter" like she kept yelling.

And anyway, I'm a dog lover and dog owner. But more importantly, I am a mother to a five year old who weighs about 25 pounds less then her dog. And I sense it's only a matter of time before he bites someone.

[morningsiderules]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I'd say you are in the clear. Unless you rent out to about 10 other people and clog the streets with cars, the authorities won't even bother. Push comes to shove, tell 'em it's a distant cousin and he/she lives there for free.

Thanks. This is what I thought.

[XRiteMA98]

Oh my... I am smirking now but I know what you mean because I had fought with my neighbors for my cats who were tresspassing their property, driving nuts their indoor cat and playing with the decorations on their Christmas tree, which, for some reason, they make it in the back yard instead of indoors

I was going to suggest can you be friends with the dog, so that it won;t bark/bite? Give him food to shut him up. Next point is what's the dog doing outside? It should have been on leash and walked by your neighbor.
As for the woman herself, well... I'd just ignore her. I'm smirking again - pardon me - but tight communities can be both a curse and a blessing. The Italian ones make no exception.

[ferraris]

I don't see how renting out a room and sharing common areas is any different than having a roommate from a legal point of view.