Renting House with Separate Rentable Detached Garage (apartment, lease agreement, tenant)
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I just moved to Whittier for school and rented an older house from the landlord I found on craigslist. After checking it out, I loved it and took it.
After signing the lease and everything, I found out (was never told that there was a garage to the house) that it was converted to a "studio" and that a wooden fence was set up in the back yard to separate the two. I thought they were two separate establishments. Anyways, I then come to find out that the driveway is the only entrance for the garage studio tenant and that they would have to walk past the cars in the driveway next to the house to get to their place. The garage needs a lot of fixing as I believe it's been vacant for awhile. NONE OF THIS WAS STATED IN THE LEASE AGREEMENT. His answer to this was, "it's never been a problem in the past." Here's where my concerns begin:
When time comes to fix the garage up, there will need to be access through the driveway..I'm supposed to comply and move my cars for you? Am I supposed to freely give you access and allow the noise and trash that will be associated with said project.
The utilities are apparently shared. I was told by a plumber and gas company employee that they shared the lines to the house. How is this legal? We are supposed to share utilities? They are in my name and how do you figure out each place's usage? The trash is the only utility that can be shared evenly( as the trash cans are issued to one address), but then I would be having to collect that utility bill from the other tenant since the bill is in my name. In that situation, it would be like a tenant paying another tenant while paying a landlord? All of this seems very shady and I haven't the slightest clue to go about this.
I feel like there is a ton more I have to say and have probably forgotten, but all of this has happened so suddenly and I felt the need to get what I can out.
On a side note, our move in date was July 1st. We officially moved everything in July 12th. After waiting until July 17th for the first available gas appt to turn our gas on, we were denied because there was a gas leak in the house. I had to go through the landlord to find a plumber to come and fix the issue and it ended up being a problem with the studio garage gas line. So we were without gas for until today (July 17th) ,which should have been in already working condition. This situation concerns me for what the future might bring.
I should mention that the mother of the landlord was back there this evening cleaning stuff. The lights were on so I'm assuming that electricity usage is being charged to me? And she was throwing stuff away in my garbage cans.
I'm going to keep adding stuff as I think of it. Since these two "separate" rentals exist, how does mail get delivered without going to my (the primary) mailbox?
It's not legal. The garage is an illegal unit. Gas leak is a MAJOR problem. You can call code enforcement & make an appointment if you want and they'll rain down fines on the LL..
It's standard for LLs around LA to "misrepresent" rentals and knowingly withhold pertinent info that would otherwise result in your passing up on their unit.
It's not legal. The garage is an illegal unit. Gas leak is a MAJOR problem. You can call code enforcement & make an appointment if you want and they'll rain down fines on the LL..
It's standard for LLs around LA to "misrepresent" rentals and knowingly withhold pertinent info that would otherwise result in your passing up on their unit.
We finally got the gas leak fixed and everything in order today. I should note that they had a couple windows installed and it has a bathroom, stove, etc to make it a studio. That still does not make it legal, though, right? I just moved from San Diego and this is a much different mentality here. If you could see this property, you would wonder how this would even be legal as we do. We just can't make sense of it. How can you rent out two separate places with two separate leases under one (the same) address? Like you said, it must be illegal.
In conjunction with a previous post, I just signed a lease to rent a house. My landlord rents the back garage (separated by a fence) out. I wasn't aware of this before signing the lease. Is there a way to find out if the converted garage rental space is legal? Perhaps a website of archive that lists this? Otherwise, how can you have two different rentals under one address with all utilities under the renter of the home only and not the garage? Thanks.
We finally got the gas leak fixed and everything in order today. I should note that they had a couple windows installed and it has a bathroom, stove, etc to make it a studio. That still does not make it legal, though, right? I just moved from San Diego and this is a much different mentality here. If you could see this property, you would wonder how this would even be legal as we do. We just can't make sense of it. How can you rent out two separate places with two separate leases under one (the same) address? Like you said, it must be illegal.
Aha. Yes, San Diego is a much nicer place to live.
Your garage apartment is likely illegal, since your utilities are not separate from the other tenants.
They do something similar in the old cities in the Northeast, where someone will throw a stove, counter and bathroom into their basement, attic or some other property structure and rent it out as a housing unit. Sometimes it's hard to tell, because a lot of old Victorians there are broken up into multiple apartment units.
In any case, it's not your job to tell if it's illegal or not--you just call code enforcement, and they will be able to tell for themselves and sort it out.
Aha. Yes, San Diego is a much nicer place to live.
Your garage apartment is likely illegal, since your utilities are not separate from the other tenants.
They do something similar in the old cities in the Northeast, where someone will throw a stove, counter and bathroom into their basement, attic or some other property structure and rent it out as a housing unit. Sometimes it's hard to tell, because a lot of old Victorians there are broken up into multiple apartment units.
In any case, it's not your job to tell if it's illegal or not--you just call code enforcement, and they will be able to tell for themselves and sort it out.
Gotcha. Yeah, you can thank grad school for the having to move away from SD. Anyways, thanks for the replies and advice. I appreciate it.
Does your lease address the shared utilities? Has your landlord mentioned the shared utilites to you?
I suggest you talk to them first and foremost or you'll be stuck with a huge gas/elec bill and you'll have to fight them (your neighbors) for your money.
As suggested in your other thread, contact your local city code enforcement or building dept.
Your main concern should be those shared bills that are in your name, not the legal status of the studio.
You mentioned a driveway...what does your lease say about the driveway? Is it yours? Do have to share it?
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How to check if a garage is legal rental...
