About us
Most ADU projects don't stall on the big question. They stall on the paperwork.
Lotline is a small, independent site that helps people understand what their city needs before they apply.
Why we started
California has done a lot to make backyard homes easier to build. In most cases the state already says your city has to approve one. Even so, people get stuck. Not because their project isn't allowed, but because a form was missing, a drawing didn't show something the reviewer expected, or a notice came back in language that was hard to act on.
We kept seeing the same handful of problems hold projects up, and the answers were usually sitting in a city handout or a section of state law that nobody had time to read closely. So we started reading them, and writing down what they mean for the person filling in the application.
What you'll find here
- Guides to the process. How long each stage can take, what to do when an application comes back incomplete, and how to respond.
- State law, made simple. The rules every California city has to follow, explained in everyday language with the section numbers there if you need them.
- City notes. What individual cities and counties ask for, where they go beyond the basics, and where their own paperwork reads differently from state law.
Who it's for
Homeowners planning a backyard unit or a garage conversion. Designers and drafters preparing a submittal in a city they don't usually work in. Small builders taking on their first few ADU projects. If you've ever read a correction notice twice and still weren't sure what it wanted, this site is for you.
Who writes it
Everything here is written and reviewed by the Lotline Editorial Team. We spend our time with the paperwork itself: the state statutes and each city's own checklists, handouts and memos, read line by line.
We publish as a team rather than under individual names, and we stand behind every page together. How we research and check our work is set out in our editorial policy.
How we keep it honest
We work from the law itself and from each city's own documents, not from other websites. Every guide links to what it's based on, so you can check it yourself, and every page shows when we last reviewed it. If a city hasn't published enough for us to say something useful, we leave it out rather than guess.
How we pay for it
Our guides are free, and they will stay free. No builder, lender or public agency pays us to write about them, and we don't sell anyone's details. We make money from one thing: the ADU Permit Playbook, a paid guide for people who want the full method in one place. You never need to buy it to use this site.
What we are not
We aren't a government agency, a law firm, or a licensed architect, engineer or contractor, and we can't review your individual project. Think of us as the friend who has read the paperwork, not the person who signs off on it. Our disclaimer explains this properly.
Get in touch
Spotted something wrong, out of date or unclear? Want us to cover your city next? We read everything that comes in, and we'd genuinely like to hear from you.
Email us at support@lotlinepermits.com. If you're reporting an error, tell us which page and which statement, and we'll check it against the original document.