Converting Living Room into Bedroom: Is it Legal in Irvine, CA?

[Vince Espiritu]

Hi BP members,

I am planning to purchase a single-family house with at least 4beds/2baths. I can rent out all the rooms to tenants and live in the living room by converting it into a bedroom just by simply having a sliding door/wall divider. I have been searching Zoning Laws and Building code in Irvine, CA but I am still not sure if this is legal or not. I have read that the room you are renting out to your tenants needs to be "habitable." I believe I don't have any problems with that since the tenants are living in the actual bedrooms of the house. However, this does not answer my question if I can turn my living room into a bedroom. Could you help me out with this? Would you be able to provide some resources that I can read so I can find the answer I am looking for?

Note: Many houses in Irvine, CA rent out by rooms. I am assuming that renting out rooms is generally legal in Irvine, CA.

-Vince