Unpermitted Converted Garage

A potential client who filed his own eviction lawsuit came into our office in hope of us taking over his case.

He served a 30-Day Notice to the tenant, then he served a 60-Day Notice to the tenant because she lived there for more than a year, and she still did not vacate, and she stopped paying rent. He filed the eviction based on the 60-Day Notice. However, the property he was renting to her was a converted garage.

That is a huge red flag because most converted garages are not permitted. He confirmed that it was not permitted. If the garage conversion had been permitted, then the 60-Day Notice would have been sufficient. Since the converted garage was not permitted, the 60-Day Notice was not valid. It was not valid because The City of San Jose’s Tenant Protection Ordinance (TPO) protects tenants who are living in unpermitted garage conversions.

The owner felt bad for this tenant and let her sleep in his garage. If he had not let her sleep there, she would have been homeless. He thought it was a better option to let her sleep in the garage than for her to be homeless, so he felt justified to rent her the garage space for a reasonable price.

However, when a property is not permitted, it is therefore uninhabitable, and a landlord cannot ask for rent.

Since this owner had already filed an eviction and the tenant filed an answer, we discussed two courses of action that he could possibly take; one that involved negotiating on his own and one that involved our attorney doing the negotiating for him.

Lesson Learned: Do not rent out unpermitted spaces. Ever.

Don’t take legal matters into your own hands, which will end up wasting your time, money, and the headache of trying to decipher which scenario is best for you. Hire a professional to get the job done correctly the first time. Schedule a consultation with our staff today:

AUTHOR: Anne-Michelle Frances*, senior paralegal

*This blog post has been read, reviewed, and approved by Daniel T. Paris, Attorney at Law.