forced to stop occupying guest quarters

[zliminator]

What is the name of your state? Florida - Lakeland

I have a house with a "mother-in-law" apt in the back. I rent the house and live in the apt. Code enforcement drove by one day and saw some trash in the yard and I got a notice saying I needed to clean up the trash and turn the apt back into a garage. I went to the City planning dept. and we could not find where permits were pulled to turn the garage into an apt. I asked them if I could get a temporary use permit so I could use it as a "guest quarters" so at least someone visiting could stay there. I'm not trying to get it rezoned for a rental at this point, although there are plenty of people in my neighborhood doing that. It is zoned for single family. Also, there would be a problem with the fact that I have a homestead exemption. Everyone keeps telling me I should get a laywer to see if I could get a variance, but I'd be happy with just a permit because they can't find any records of where a permit was pulled to convert it from garage to apt. It was like this when I bought it 3 years ago. Would I be wasting my time hiring an attorney for $250/hr? I can't seem to reach the enforcement officer so I can find out what I need to do to "turn it back into a garage". I would also like some more time to find another place to stay. If I had just kept the yard picked up this would not be happening. Thanks for any help.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Florida - Lakeland

I have a house with a "mother-in-law" apt in the back. I rent the house and live in the apt. Code enforcement drove by one day and saw some trash in the yard and I got a notice saying I needed to clean up the trash and turn the apt back into a garage. I went to the City planning dept. and we could not find where permits were pulled to turn the garage into an apt. I asked them if I could get a temporary use permit so I could use it as a "guest quarters" so at least someone visiting could stay there. I'm not trying to get it rezoned for a rental at this point, although there are plenty of people in my neighborhood doing that. It is zoned for single family. Also, there would be a problem with the fact that I have a homestead exemption. Everyone keeps telling me I should get a laywer to see if I could get a variance, but I'd be happy with just a permit because they can't find any records of where a permit was pulled to convert it from garage to apt. It was like this when I bought it 3 years ago. Would I be wasting my time hiring an attorney for $250/hr? I can't seem to reach the enforcement officer so I can find out what I need to do to "turn it back into a garage". I would also like some more time to find another place to stay. If I had just kept the yard picked up this would not be happening. Thanks for any help.

**A: it all depends how old the structure is and when it was converted into a living unit.

 

[nextwife]

**A: it all depends how old the structure is and when it was converted into a living unit.

And whether it was built to meet applicable codes, and whether there are any other local zoning or deed restriction limitations that would prohibit such use in the first place.