@John Ludwig As a first step, I would send a letter to the planning department with the subject APN and a description of what you would like to do with the property i.e. zoning amendment from R-6 to R-7.

You need to speak with the city planning department for your specific laws regarding where the property is zoned. 

As to whether the authorities are aware of it, Mayor Koch of NYC was asked what he's going to do with thousands of illegal units in the city during a re-election campaign famously said, tell me where to house the 200,000 to 300,000 people made homeless if I enforce it.My wife has a degree in urban planning and worked in the planning department in Long Island where most municipalities handle their zoning and the policies and procedures are similar.

SkelnikI had replied to you 3x on your email, not sure why you are not getting it though, but I already forwarded your concern to the billing department

I have a judgement worth a few thousand I will never collect on.But I learned this is a business and must be run like a business and that means super levels of customer service served up with a total intolerance for serious lease violations ecspecially non payment of rent, creating a neighborhood disturbance, etc....Don’t misunderstand, I want the tenants to enjoy the home and if that means a little extra wear and tear from kids, a garden in the yard, some extra painting when the tenant departs, my efforts to send repair teams same day or quickly for service at my expense, that’s fine... but the lease terms and conditions for payment and local and state law compliance are the lease terms and conditions and they should be adhered to consistently, by all parties.

Best to first check the website, if it's the city of Atlanta: Atlanta zoningIf you have further questions, most jurisdictions have a "City Planning" department which zoning is part of, pay them a visit.

The only people that know who owns property is then IRS and state tax department.

Whereas these accessory units were frowned upon in years past by the zoning/planning departments in the tonier towns in the Bay Area, many are now coming to the realization that they can best preserve their character and increase available housing stock by permitting current owners to set up ADU's on their properties. 

If she prevents you from coming back in, some police departments will do a civil standby and/or come out and explain to your mom that she can’t just kick you out like that if you lived there. 

We planned to pull the permits ourselves to renovate the bathroom and kitchen, however, only after we paid for the permit the building department is requiring a CSL since we planned to remove sheetrock and the state of Massachusetts does not recognize us the homeowners since we have no intent to live there.