Commercial Business in Residential home ????? (San Antonio, Anton: renter, house, neighborhood)

[UnhappyNeighbor]

Do we have any legal recourse?? I have a new neighbor. Unfortunately, a renter. I own my home as does everyone else on our street. The new renter neighbors are running a commercial business out of the home. That means several work vans in addition to their personal cars. Workers show up in the AM and park their cars in the street and yard. They have large supplies and equipment spilling out of the two car garage and backyard. We live in an above average neighborhood and noone parks in the street - so this is particularly irritating. Most of the people in the neighborhood are older - my husband and I in our 50's are the youngest in a wide area around this 'renter'. Every day after work they 'hang out' and drink in the front yard while unloading the vans which stay parked in the driveway while personal cars remain in the street. We are afraid to notify the owner of the house, as the renters are quite unseemly, and we fear he will tell them who complained. They have been in the house less than 2 months and already one neighbor has called the police and a few weeks ago we witnessed these renters yelling racial slurs at the neighbor/homeowner across the street for no apparent reason. We have learned that these people moved from another residence where they were operating their business. Is this a code compliance issue? Any ideas on the best way to get rid of these renters? Thank you!

[Bo]

Got an HOA? It's almost certainly against your deed restrictions. You could start there if you do.

It's also against zoning codes to operate a business in residential zoning, but you'd need proof and evidence to make your case, because Code Enforcement won't have time to do a thorough investigation.

[TexasRedneck]

I hate to tell you this, but you're either going to have to get involved, or live w/it. Now, you might be able to get by with calling the owner without telling him who's calling - but why. If it bothers you that much, get some backbone and complain - start w/the owner, and tell him that if he can't handle it, you'll start filing complaints w/the city, but you thought he'd rather take care of things w/o having a bunch of hassles from the city.
With all due respect - that's part of the problem today - folks want to complain, but they don't want to actually get INVOLVED with getting it resolved. Had a neighbor blowing his yard trimming into the street - went over, had a little discussion w/him, explaining to him that it's against the city code to do so, but that more importantly, I ended up having to clean it up when it blew onto MY side of the street.
He apologized, and it hasn't happened again. Had it gone the other way, I was fully prepared to file whatever complaints were necessary.

[Long_Tenon]

Well in San Antonio at least there is no Zoning code against running a home business. The criteria to meet is this - Do clients come to your home OR do you go out in the field? You cannot have a business where customers come to your home to conduct business, or have work performed. You can have a business where you go to their home, or office. The streets are Public, and as long as you are not violating parking restrictions (usually 24 hours), then there is nothing that can be done. HOA's will tell you the same thing. So employees of company X can go to the home where the business is located, park their cars on the street, and then proceed to the field to work. Example: Suppose that you washed cars and did detailing. You have a big van or truck for washing etc. All the employees come to your home. They climb into the truck, and move off to customers sites. This is Okay! BUT! The customers cannot come to the house where the big truck is, and get their cars washed. This would violate residential zoning codes in San Antonio. Hope this helps.

[bigtexan99]

If the neighbor owned the home you would not have an issue with this? You think only renters do this?

By your description they are not running a business out of their home.

Unless you are in a HOA, (and even then it would be a blurry situation) you don't have any recourse.

[BigTexLaw]

None of these responses actually reference the municipal code. I would recommend reading the code and calling your city council rep and describing the problem.