City Says You Can Own Tiny Home - You Just Can't Live In It

Another case being handled by the Institute for Justice.

[DrDurango]

You can’t live in a tiny home, but you can live in a cardboard box on the street...

[michaellowe]

If people are allowed to live in these, they may not have to pay $500k in interest to a bank for a loan. People may even actually own their home without a bank having a claim on it when they die. Banks won't allow this.

[terryhayward]

You spend your own money to buy a home, but the city says that you can sleep in a tent on the street, but not in a tiny home. Insane.

[mikehilbert]

Code enforcement turns your city into a giant HOA.

[sawyer]

I've lived in Idaho all my life & we're all about hands off government. Yet here we are... trying to tell someone what they can and cannot do with their OWN PROPERTY. The hypocrisy is tangible.

[WhiffenC]

You can go to jail for living in a certain place? Insanity.

[buttersstotch]

Some jurisdictions are particularly upset about wheels on tiny houses because they're not "permanent" parts of the property. You're not really helping inflate their property value and tax rates in any lasting way, if you can just move. Even if they don't mind the homes themselves, the idea that some governmental agency isn't able to carve out their share is what spurs them to write these draconian laws against the practice.

[RotobugAport]

It's not a safety issue it's a power issue, my experience with knowing code enforcement officers is many of them are on power trips using government power to put their thumbs on people for their own gratification.

[skipstalforce]

They're just mad because she's not paying property taxes

[helifynoe]

As a disabled person, I have been surviving on between $475 to $812 per month CAD for the last 20 years. But then I saw a man across from where I live, in the plaza sitting on a bench, day after day, staring into space. He look thin and pale and oh so empty inside with his long thin hair.. My God I thought, I have to speak to him right now. The man needs someone to talk to. Then he told me that he went out of business and ended up homeless. So I gave him some money in hopes that he would go to the GOODWILL store an get some fresh clothes and maybe a mirror and a pair of scissors to cut his hair. Sure enough, I saw him again. He was happy to see me, and was wearing fresh clothes. He then showed me his bag that contained even more clothes. And yes, he had cut his own hair. I then gave him more money and bus tickets to free him from being trapped within this zone. In the end, he had contacted family members, and they took him in. THANK GOODNESS they have not made this an illegal act as of yet.

[lordchaa]

Sounds like the enforcement officer had it out for the new resident from California. You can’t allow the exact violation to occur across the street and only enforce it on one and not the other. Sounds like someone doesn’t like their new neighbors.

[libertarian]

There are quite a few municipalities that have minimum square footage requirements for residences which can essentially ban “tiny homes” as your primary residence. What’s odd is a lot of these municipalities allow these homes when classified as sheds or outbuildings wherein they’re legal, just not legal for primary residency. This to a great extent is big government political over-reach especially in a time with seemingly rampant homelessness nationwide.

[joshuagibson]

Government is out of control. At all levels. The courts are of very little use. I think we all know where this is heading. Glad that I live far, far away from any cities. A good 30 minutes or more minimum, in all directions.

[rongarrett]

Spur, Texas, was selling town lots for $500 and allowing tiny houses. They had to have the wheels removed and be hooked up to city services. This was a few years ago.

[MyWifeSally]

America’s war on affordable housing continues. Also Ben visiting New York today.

[normanrotwell]

Several years ago a class at the local community college built a tiny home from a shipping container. The news story covering the upcoming auction of tiny home noted that it couldn't be placed anywhere in the county because it didn't meet the minimum 660 square footage requirement. I was surprised to see the minimum wasn't 666. Evil bureaucrats.

[davidsellars]

Many Code Enforcement Officers carry their badges rather heavy. That especially goes for the ones that also carry guns. Government people don't have empathy for people that are just trying to live.

[Enjoymentboy]

The minimum square footage requirements are solely to ensure a minimum property tax revenue stream. that's all homeowners are to the governments. A source of income. It's really sad that people honestly think their governments care about them beyond how much money they can take from them.

[palladin]

This is 100% about protecting future property value increases via artificially limiting supply. Municipalities do this all the time when area's starting experiencing a housing boom. You bought a home for 250K awhile back, area has since experienced a boom and it's now worth 600K. If new supply becomes available then the home might only be worth 700K next year instead of 800K. All those weird local rules are designed to prevent that from happening, keeping both the supply low and demand high homes so those that already bought can reap the value later on.

[itchykami]

I don't live in the tiny home, I just have a bed and a TV there, and often I visit it overnight.