Question for househackers!

[Jake Brockway]

My wife and I recently started our real estate investing journey, and we have decided that we are going to house hack. I talked to my father about our plans to house hack, who happens to be a property lawyer ( how convenient, right?). He emphaszied how important it is to find out if it's legal to house hack, which is considered multi-family in law,  in a typical single family area based on the local zoning codes. 

Apparently, he has been involved in a case where a guy was sued for house hacking in an area zoned for only single family, and since he was house hacking, he was technically making a single family residence a multi-family residence, which wasn't allowed. Some Karen in the neighborhood complained that they were too many cars on their property, and the house hacker had to remove all his tenants or face serious punishments. 

My question for you guys- why have I never heard of zoning being apart of the house hacking conversations on the podcasts? ( maybe it has been discussed, I just haven't listened to that episode yet).  If you have house hacked yourself, did you look to see if your home was zoned for multifamily? Are most house hackers overlooking/ignoring the zoning laws, and just hoping to not get caught? Thanks. 

[Jake Brockway]

Wow, thanks for the feedback guys! 

@Brent Coombs I'm definitely thinking the same way as far as multi-family. They're pretty hard to find in my area right now ( Birmingham, AL). For that reason, I was thinking about just renting out the rooms with a FHA in a single family until I can move/use my VA loan for a 2-4 plex.

@Jaron Walling Glad I could make you laugh, gotta watch out for these Karens these days.

 @Marcus Auerbach I'm wondering if zoning laws are just very different in Birmingham than in where you live. I didn't think about "the tragedy of the commons" problem with sewer system overuse. Thanks for the feedback!

@Alecia Loveless I was thinking of trying to get a large home with as many beds/baths as I can afford with an FHA, with parking that is something on the property, not street parking. Haven't found a winner yet! Podcast 392 is pretty much the same model that I'm trying to follow. Only difference is I don't live in Seattle, where I'm assuming costs are much higher than Birmingham.