Can't sell our house too many renters next door (South Jordan: apartment complex, city hall)

[BMTUtah]

We live in a nice neighborhood. My neighbors got transferred to another state. They've decided to rent their house to 17 people along with their 15 cars, 1 motor home, 1 boat, several pets and several items that came with them. The neighbors constantly in and out of the drive way, parking their cars all over our cul de sac. My wife and I are getting closer to retirement so we decided to downsize. The problem is we are having difficulty selling our home because of the next door neighbor rental situation. We worked extremely hard in order to have a nice home and its been difficult to take that renters next door is impeding in our retirement plans and devaluing our home. Downsizing is an important step in our retirement strategy. If we take loss, we will not able to retire as plan. Do we have any re-course not allowing this many people in a single family home? What about our rights as home-owner?

[WyoNewk]

I'd speak with someone in city hall (if you're in a city). If you "live in a nice neighborhood," it's probably not zoned for a rental with 17 people in it... unless it's all one big family. I'd ask. The city planning department would certainly know....

I know how it is. And they're likely tearing the place up. We had a similar situation next door to us for awhile, but only 5-6 people were living there. Still, they all had cars or trucks. It was a mess. Out-of-state owner had bought it for his son to run a business in town, and when that didn't work he rented it to his crew! They had two big auger trucks that were parked on the street. I called the city and put a stop to that, but there were still a bunch of cars. It went on for a year or two.

We actually ended up with roaches in our house! (I'd never SEEN a roach before.) I guess there were too many roaches in that house and they went looking for a place that wasn't so crowded.

[seasick]

Few locales will allow that many unrelated people to live in a single family home.

We have that problem down the block. Our locale won't do anything, but maybe yours will be better!

[f5fstop]

Most cities have an allowable number of people per house square footage code. Check.
If not, you and your neighbors should make life miserable as possible. Take your vehicles and park in the streets leaving them no place to park. Call the cops every time they get too loud; and if they are violating the law, get the health department, police, council all involved. But you need a solid front of more than you and your family; you need other neighbors.

[Coffeequeen]

I don't know if there is a touch of hyperbole here, but there are multigenerational families in my street and 6 cars, a camper, ATV, etc are not at all uncommon. Just a (Utah) standard family with teens can have 6 cars. If you literally can prove 17 people and 15 cars you probably don't have a rental problem, maybe a meth house/prostitution/nefarious problem. If you truly live in a cul de sac, there must be several homeowners is a similar position, and you are saying nothing has been said or done thus far? Where is your area?

[Hemlock140]

Yes, check with the local authorities. Here's an example of the law in Tacoma, WA, south of here:

"Tacoma's Minimum Building and Structures Code, Chapter 2.01, 2.01.070 Minimum building requirements, states:
V. Overcrowding, Residential Buildings. For single family dwellings and duplexes, the maximum number of residents of each dwelling unit shall not exceed the gross area divided by 300, rounded to the nearest whole number. Bedrooms will accommodate two persons with a minimum size of 70 square feet, with no dimension being less than 7 feet. An additional 50 square feet shall be provided for each person in excess of two."

We have no such law here, probably because it's never come up as a problem.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2w&cad=rja

[Chango]

Rent your house too and use the income to finance your retirement?

[dcisive]

one of the few things Herriman got right when it was beginning to grow back in 2003, was put in force an ordinance that a "homeowner" could NOT rent their single family home out as a rental property. This maintained the ownership of the homes, but people that fully intended to LIVE in them and not rent them out. I agree, rental properties are a disaster on the whole. The only exception allowed is if it is a blood relative to the owner of the property. So far I haven't heard of any issues with anyone renting out there homes as yet. It's all homeowners living in their homes so that's a good thing from what I'm seeing. If they want to buy a home to rent it out let them go over to Riverton or maybe South Jordan. So far I don't believe they have ordinances in place against it as yet. Bluffdale does however as well. I admire those folks in Bluffdale, they tend to be ahead of the curve as far as being more foresighted regarding homes built and the responsibilities of the homeowners.

[ChrisC]

There have been similar problems in my neighborhood--and many other daily violations of city ordinances. If your city is anything like this one, you have rather strict ordinances to make life bearable for the residents, but you also have officials who are completely unwilling to enforce those regulations. So, what often happens is that your neighborhood slowly "goes to hell" and nothing is ever done about it. Home values plummet as does any sense of sanity and order. I'm sorry to hear that you are in that situation. I'd dump the property before it is too late to get much of anything out of it. Once the degeneration starts in an area, it likely continues. All with the blessing of the city officials and their paper tiger ordinances.

[mapmd]

Originally Posted by dcisive

one of the few things Herriman got right when it was beginning to grow back in 2003, was put in force an ordinance that a "homeowner" could NOT rent their single family home out as a rental property. This maintained the ownership of the homes, but people that fully intended to LIVE in them and not rent them out. I agree, rental properties are a disaster on the whole. The only exception allowed is if it is a blood relative to the owner of the property. So far I haven't heard of any issues with anyone renting out there homes as yet. It's all homeowners living in their homes so that's a good thing from what I'm seeing. If they want to buy a home to rent it out let them go over to Riverton or maybe South Jordan. So far I don't believe they have ordinances in place against it as yet. Bluffdale does however as well. I admire those folks in Bluffdale, they tend to be ahead of the curve as far as being more foresighted regarding homes built and the responsibilities of the homeowners.

The only candidates I'd consider would be military who move every 2-3 years. That's a legitimate reason to rent a home and to send your kids to the local school district and to enjoy the quality of life that is available here.

I'm wholly against the renting out of single family homes, which is one of the few things that conflict with my (mostly) Libertarian beliefs. Single family homes are for stable families who have a stake in the neighborhood and community at large. Others can grab an apartment in an apartment complex. Sorry folks. I have no problem with townhouses being rented out, unless there's an HOA or condo association that forbids it (which is a good thing if you can get it).

Another thing I support: doubling property taxes on homes not dwelt in by the primary owner. You want to make a rental unit: pay for it! This will obviously disincentivise turning nice areas into rental slums.

Another thing that peeves me: RV's/Campers and Trailers that sit in the driveway, often for years and years at a time. They are unsightly and I wish my county would ordnance them out. GO GET SPACE IN A STORAGE LOT.

I visit my mother's house about once a month a couple towns over and the neighbors across from her have had one of those PODS type (it's a different brand) storage boxes parked in their driveway for about five years now. Disgusting and unsightly. Of course the neighborhood is declining. They also have a problem with some of the "new arrivals" stacking 10 people into these little 1950's 1,200 sq.ft. one-story houses with six cars parked along the street. Once again it's tolerated. The more these houses become rentals the more the overall neighborhood will decline, and the harder it will be for long-time residents to sell and get out.