Protect myself from a law suit

[Patrick Buntubwimana]

Hello B.P,

I bought my first property and it is a duplex.

I have 2 questions, the property has two parts the big house has three rooms and one kitchen and the other one is a detached which has one room, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. I wanted to do a house hack and rent out the big house and live in the small one. but, it is not stated as duplex. should I ask permission to zoning for rent. the second question is if I'm gonna rent it, how am I going to protect myself? since I did not create LLC. Thank you