my landlord told me she's worried about me restoring my car at our home that we rent in los angeles because it's residential and i can't do auto repair here.

doesn't anyone know where i can go to look up the laws regarding this so i can ease her mind or know to what extent i can work on my own car at my house?

 

Being residential doesn't really matter. I live in a residential area and make all the noise I want. Now there are some communities that dont allow working on a car or parking on the street crap like that. However a lot of those places dont allow renters either. They usually have a community meeting every month to discuss who knows what. I was looking at a house in one of these communities and when they told me I couldn't park on the street or change my own oil in my own driveway I looked elsewhere. now I dont know where you can look it up but if it is the case you should have been informed when you first rented your place.

 

What your landlord may be talking about is commercial auto repair, for example you can fix a friends car for free, but you cannot charge him for it. But you can do all the work on your own car you want. unless homeowners association says otherwise.. but ifs its zoning she is talking about, you are fine.

 

no, it's an old kinda ghetto neighborhood in hollywood. a mix of houses and apartments (i live in a duplex myself). I never do anything before about noon and usually stop by 6pm. i try not to do the loud stuff on the weekend cause i can work on my car during the week as well, and don't wanna ruin my neighbor's weekend. see how nice i am. haha

 

Many places have sections of the lease/rental agreement to dictate things like that. For example, my lease prohibits working on cars on the premises (condo block with shared driveways) except for emergencies. However, they can't dictate what I do on a public street.

If you live in an area governed by a HOA, you're probably SOL. HOA's can fine the homeowner if they (or the current resident) violate the HOA agreement, which can include working on vehicles on HOA-controlled streets.

 

Here's a link to a pdf version of the California Tenant's Rights Handbook. Like Starfury said, if you're not in a HOA controlled area, these are the rules that you and your landlord must adhere to.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...k/catenant.pdf

 

Also look up deed restrictions for your part of town.Some are kinda dumb where my brother lives you can't even change your own oil in your driveway gotta do it in the garage with the door down.

 

The worst she can do to you is not renew the lease. Ignore her and then move.