All the wrong arguments about STR's
June 20, 2017 10:29 Filed in: hoa | short-term rentals
Rabid opponents of short-term rentals either seek out positions in which to ban them (elected and appointed local officials, hoa boards) or else bully and sue their neighbors to get their way. That's all fair and good — it's democracy in action, and proponents of property rights ought to get out in force to protect those rights.
The problem, in my experience arguing cases at every level of the court system and before city officials, comes in convincing local officials — judges, politicians, and city staffers alike — to break through the incendiary claims and arguments and analyze the real issue. The basic problem that opponents hate to acknowledge is that every argument against STR's applies equally to long-term rentals as to short-term ones: landlords make money, landlords advertise, landlords use property managers, too many renters at the house, etc. More importantly, every landlord has an obligation to have decent tenants who respect neighbors — just as every owner should. Bad neighbors are bad neighbors whether they are owners or renters, and there are plenty of both kinds. The problem with everyone's occupancy of residential homes is that people can create nuisances, noise, trash, and other kinds of poor behavior, either sometimes or often. But that has nothing to do with the duration of someone's occupancy. All durations are equally bad and equally good in the sense that whoever is occupying a property can be bad for any duration or good for any duration. The proper target of regulation of leasing is what it has always been: respectful behavior by whoever is occupying a home. But what has happened instead is that opponents — just like the prohibitionists back in the day — demonize every property owner who leases and try to ban leasing — and not just STR's, either. At some point, higher-level elected officials and judges are going to have to step in and say, right, whatever else we do, we don't ditch freedom, whatever its faults. We regulate it and make money on it through taxation. That, of course, is the American way.
The problem, in my experience arguing cases at every level of the court system and before city officials, comes in convincing local officials — judges, politicians, and city staffers alike — to break through the incendiary claims and arguments and analyze the real issue. The basic problem that opponents hate to acknowledge is that every argument against STR's applies equally to long-term rentals as to short-term ones: landlords make money, landlords advertise, landlords use property managers, too many renters at the house, etc. More importantly, every landlord has an obligation to have decent tenants who respect neighbors — just as every owner should. Bad neighbors are bad neighbors whether they are owners or renters, and there are plenty of both kinds. The problem with everyone's occupancy of residential homes is that people can create nuisances, noise, trash, and other kinds of poor behavior, either sometimes or often. But that has nothing to do with the duration of someone's occupancy. All durations are equally bad and equally good in the sense that whoever is occupying a property can be bad for any duration or good for any duration. The proper target of regulation of leasing is what it has always been: respectful behavior by whoever is occupying a home. But what has happened instead is that opponents — just like the prohibitionists back in the day — demonize every property owner who leases and try to ban leasing — and not just STR's, either. At some point, higher-level elected officials and judges are going to have to step in and say, right, whatever else we do, we don't ditch freedom, whatever its faults. We regulate it and make money on it through taxation. That, of course, is the American way.