In my home town, during the real estate bubble craziness somebody rented a one of those U-store storage spaces and made it into a comfortable home. I wanted to write an article about him for the local paper. But it turns out what he was doing was against about a dozen laws and if anybody found out he would, at the least, be kicked out. I don’t remember all the laws, but there was a certificate of occupancy, sanitation and water (don’t recall how he did this) and property is classified and taxed by use. You can’t stay in commercial property unless it is classed and taxed as habitable. The list of violations is endless. Doubtless some of them will require jail time as so many ordinances today do. All of this comes down to collecting taxes and fees. Nobody is allowed to violate them because if they allowed it once can you imagine what would happen to parking lots in San Francisco?
It would have been okey-dokey if he posted an Occupy Wall Street sign over the space.
;>)