how to complain apartment illegal conversion (San Jose: sublet, rent, houses)

[citylifer]

There is a multi-plex/apartment next door. My neighbor converted the living room into 2 bedrooms and rented out the upstair bedrooms. I went to sjpermit.org and found that they did it without permit. A family of 3 lives downstairs, and they sublet out 3 bedrooms upstairs to 3 tenants.

I tried to file a complaint to the code enforcement department department but they said that I cannot file a complaint unless I am a tenant in that unit because they need someone to open the door to let them inspect. This is ridiculous. How to get around it?

[purehuman]

what is it that bothers you about it?

[citylifer]

Originally Posted by purehuman

what is it that bothers you about it?

They converted without permit, that bother me. Too many people live there, the apartment is not designed for that many people. Too many cars.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I'm sure their house, structurally, can handle having six people living in it.

But, they are probably violating zoning laws, if it's zoned for single family housing, and not multi-family building.

Did you try this department? This is for the city of San Jose:

San Jose, CA - Official Website - About

If that doesn't apply to you, call the planning dept for your city/town and ask how to report a zoning violation.

Are there parking/car rules for your street? That might be a way to complain about the cars.

[imcurious]

Ugh. Mind your own business. Live and let live. What a busy-body.

[citylifer]

No, they do not own it, they rent one unit of a 4-plex. Then within this unit, they have an illegal conversion. There is no way landlord did not know about it, but I am not sure why he allow them to do it.

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I'm sure their house, structurally, can handle having six people living in it.

But, they are probably violating zoning laws, if it's zoned for single family housing, and not multi-family building.

Did you try this department? This is for the city of San Jose:

San Jose, CA - Official Website - About

If that doesn't apply to you, call the planning dept for your city/town and ask how to report a zoning violation.

Are there parking/car rules for your street? That might be a way to complain about the cars.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Well, the occupancy limits are generally 2 people per bedroom plus one. It's more complicated than that, often allowing even more people than that, but, going by this rule, per the original layout of the unit - 3 bedrooms, that would mean 7 people are allowed in that unit.

So, the only issue I see is whether or not they did anything structurally that needed a permit. Their LL could get dinged with that.

But, legally, they could all continue to live there. Apparently the LL is okay with subletting, and that's not against the law.

Do you own your home? I could understand your frustration if the neighbors are taking up all the parking spaces and generally being noisy, etc. If you are renting, you would have the option of moving.

[purehuman]

Originally Posted by citylifer

They converted without permit, that bother me. Too many people live there, the apartment is not designed for that many people. Too many cars.

While I can understand your dislike of the "too many cars", I can also understand that there's a lot of people who NEED a place to stay. THAT would take precedent in my mind. I think you need to be more tolerant in this day and age when so many are facing great difficulties finding a place they can afford to live at.
I would turn a blind eye to any legalities I felt weren't being adhered to....would you rather see these people living in their cars?..or out on the street?

[Azmordean]

Originally Posted by purehuman

While I can understand your dislike of the "too many cars", I can also understand that there's a lot of people who NEED a place to stay. THAT would take precedent in my mind. I think you need to be more tolerant in this day and age when so many are facing great difficulties finding a place they can afford to live at.
I would turn a blind eye to any legalities I felt weren't being adhered to....would you rather see these people living in their cars?..or out on the street?

Typical Bay Area attitude. It isn't OPs fault that housing is expensive here. I'm sure, like me, OP feels for those that have serious trouble affording housing.

It does not follow that OP should simply accept the people next door running a boarding house.

The housing affordability problem is a systemic issue caused almost entirely by NIMBYism and politics. Individual homeowners should not have to suffer for it by putting up with boarding houses.

The 3 people upstairs (1 per bedroom) doesn't seem like an issue to me. However, a whole family living downstairs where there isn't even 1 real bedroom probably is an issue. If the family had a bedroom and the downstairs and they rented out 2 rooms, that'd probably fly, but a family not having a bedroom strikes me as odd. Sounds like a situation with 1 too many tenants to me.

[nmnita]

too many cars, that is a serious condition and I can understand how you feel, but other that that, it doesn't sound to me like they have too many living on the property and I would have to agree with some of the others posting here: live and let live. There really isn't much you can do about the situation I am guessing.