Oakland Unpermitted ADU Amnesty Program

[Carolyn McBride]

Purchased a home in Oakland in late 2022 which had a non-permitted garage-converted detached ADU in the backyard. All the construction for the ADU was unpermitted/undocumented and the previous owners were contractors themselves.

I want to apply to the Oakland Amnesty program, but one of the requirements is that they need proof of the establishment/construction and also occupation of the ADU prior to 2021.

Since I just bought the home in late 2022, what is the best way to go about the proof of establishment and occupancy requirement? I'm not even sure what type of evidence the city needs for amnesty, since the whole garage conversion was done unpermitted/undocumented by the previous homeowners. I believe unpermitted ADU's is extremely common in Oakland.

Does anyone have experience with the Oakland ADU Amnesty program? I'd love to get details on how easy the process was, as I'm concerned about the city forcing me to get rid of the whole unit itself.