Renting SFH to a Church - Ministry Home

[Zachary Diaz]

The fly on the wall finally has a question, hope you all can be of some help. Here is some background information.

tldr- I have a SFH with an ADU attachment. I am worried about the legality and insurance of renting both units to a church ministry for groups, services, and classes. I feel I am already in a grey area renting out both units to two separate families. Advice wanted.

Property- SFH zoning, main house is a 3/2 and attached ADU is a 1/1 full apartment with no connection into main home. The property is on one meter down a dirt road. No HOA and on an acre plus lot. I am in a flood zone and have citizens backed home owners and fema backed flood. Neighbors all have ADU rentals of their own.

*** from my research ADUs in the county cannot be rented and should be for family use only.?

I was living in the 3/2 and renting the 1/1 as a fully furnished mid term rental all utilities included, all was dandy. Now that I have moved out I still need to cover utilities because the property has one meter and I was going to continue to mid term the 1/1 and find a long term tenant for the 3/2?? This I also heard is a gray space in my county. I have been approached by a small Ministry to rent out both units at the price I want and they would sign a 2-3 year lease.  I would love to make this work because it gives great financial security as I proceed into my investing career and I would feel good about it, though that doesn't really matter. They would use it as a "ministry home". This would mean using it for services and as a small school and day care for their congregation, 10 kids all day. In FL it appears there isn't any specific coding rules really for church schools. They have all of the proper paper work and are a legal ministry school. They carry a 1 million dollar personal liability coverage. They are by the books and trying to grow. 

My dilemma is insurance on my end. Citizens appears to have a problem with everything. My insurance guy told me schools are flagged by them but would the verbiage of "ministry home" change this? Waiting for his response to this. It is more than a school though. Even if I don't go ahead with this and rent the property to 2 separate people wouldn't that also not be kosher. In the end of the day I feel stuck about what to do. I would like to stay insured. I personally would cover cap ex stuff like roof and pipes and only call on insurance if the house was flattened. What repercussions would I face if I take the church on? Does any one have any experience with this type of situation? I'd appreciate any insights that could help me make a decision.

Ps- House hacking to me feels very hard to navigate in my area with the way laws are as of now.