Help! Non Conforming Gone?!

[Christina Nalband]

I REEEAAALLY need help with a property I purchased back in February of this year (2021).

I purchased a house in Tampa that has a main house in the front with a "mother in law" in the back. The house was advertised as a potential "income producing" unit if I wanted to rent out the back.

I am now finding out that the property LOST it's non-conforming status while the prior owner (who flipped the house) had it. They neglected to tell me that the house lost it's non-conforming.

Now... In order to rent out the back unit, I need to try and get the non-conforming status back.

This is a HUGE pain and super disappointing because I would not of purchased the home if I knew I could not legally rent out the back unit.

Has anyone seen a home lose it's non-conforming status before?

Can you legally rent out a mother in law if it is zoned as a single family?