If you are a Berkeley homeowner with questions about that backyard shed you rent to college kids, now is the time to legalize it without penalty fees. Beginning this year, and running through Dec. 31, 2028, the city of Berkeley has opened an amnesty program to improve housing safety.

Unpermitted accessory dwelling units, including converted garages or in-law units, can now go through a process to meet housing code with no penalty fees. The unit must be constructed or converted before Jan. 1, 2020.

Getting that unit up to housing code will improve the likelihood that insurance will cover damages. It will also avoid the risk of additional penalties if the unit is randomly selected for a proactive inspection under the city’s Rental Housing Safety Program. That program requires rental property owners to perform a safety inspection each year and pay an annual fee.

If property owners follow the standard building permit process and submit detailed plans, they can acquire a Certificate of Occupancy. Alternatively, units that meet the Housing Code and minimum fire and life safety standards can get a Housing Certificate of Compliance. This certificate would assure that code enforcement proceedings on the previously undocumented unit will not be triggered, if no additional unpermitted work is performed on the unit.

Before applying, homeowners can request a free anonymous and confidential consultation to determine their eligibility and get some idea what kind of work might be necessary to meet the city’s building code. 

Owners will be given the opportunity to request a five-year delay of code enforcement penalties for units undergoing legalization or units issued a Certificate of Compliance under the Amnesty Program.

The Amnesty program application fee is $590. Getting an official address will cost $250.  Inspection and fix-up costs vary.

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.