Illegal Garage Conversions
 
When a garage is illegally converted for living purposes it can cause serious health and safety issues. In addition to this, it affects the quality of life in your neighborhood because of the social impact.
 
Most residents do not realize the impact illegal garage conversions have on the entire City of Lynwood. An immediate impact is the decrease in the availability of public parking space, since people are not using the garage space to park their vehicles. Instead, there is an increase of cars parked on the street, more illegal parking, and unsafe conditions.

Another impact is in the uncounted population. Homes are counted as single-family units. However, multiple families living in one single family home creates a gap in the population count. Families who may be living in a converted garage are not counted in the census.

What does this mean to Lynwood?

It means more children in public schools without the necessary funds to educate the numbers of kids in public schools. It means you will pay more for garbage collection because we are producing more waste than allowed per the population counted in the census. It also can affect the amount of federal and state funding Lynwood receives based on population numbers.

 What you can do to de-convert a garage:

- Get the necessary permits from City Hall (Development Services Department)
- Give tenant 30 days to vacate
- Owner has 14 days following the vacating of the garage to convert it back to a garage.

If you have any questions, please contact the Development Services Department at (310) 603-0220 ext. 289.