Convert old house to SRO in Los Angeles?

[Ben Wakefield]

Hi all,

If somebody wanted to convert an old house into an SRO for flight attendants (near LAX) by putting in bunk beds, etc. is that legal? Are there restrictions as to what can be converted to an SRO, or zoning issues? It is in a quiet residential neighborhood and there aren't any other ones in the area.

Thank you!

[Joshua McGinnis]

I'd consider this a grey area. But that's based on personal experience of encountering a lot of Angelenos getting away with a lot more zoning violations than they probably should - take it with a grain of salt.

Is it legal to rent a SFR room-by-room? In most cases, the answer is yes (the grey area is whether or not you want to disclose anything more than this to other parties).

But, according to the LA Zoning and Planning code, you may actually be wanting to convert the home into a "boarding or rooming house" which would require that the residence be zoned as such.

Here's their definition of a boarding/rooming house: