By Lisa Sievers
Guest Columnist
No one wants to live next to a “party house” including short term rental operators. That said, please entertain an alternate view of short-term rentals.
We own and operate two short-term rentals in East Dallas. We are five-star “Superhosts” with over 780 reviews who meet guests personally and oversee our properties with commitment and respect for our neighbors. We don’t allow parties. There are hundreds of us “good apples” in the Dallas area.
With all of the strong opinions right now, people forget the good things about short-term rentals and why they exist in the first place: They allow guests to stay closer to the areas they like and where their friends and family are located, they provide a safe and cleanly staycation or work from home alternative, and they allow guests to experience neighborhoods by frequenting local restaurants and shops. Each is a unique setting and provides a unique experience.
Short-term rentals are popular and to many, a preferred place to stay. So, how many party houses are we talking about anyway? Assistant Dallas City Manager Joey Zapata had noted about 40 complaints of specific houses from October to December of 2020. That is out of 3,125 active short-term rentals according to airDNA.co as of October 28, 2020. Are we really talking about 1.5 percent here?
So, how to move forward?
If you boil the “party house” problem down, the guest or the host should be suspended from the short-term rental platform (such as VRBO and Airbnb). Airbnb has a link on its homepage to a 24/7 neighborhood support hotline, as well as an email complaint window. VRBO has a property complaint email window also.
The platforms are trying to self-regulate. As of September 29, 2020, ten “party houses” in Dallas had been suspended by the Airbnb platform and Airbnb has taken legal action against some guests nationally. Let’s start here.
Second, the City of Dallas does have existing ordinances for noise, trash, and occupancy with enforcement for all. The 311 program exists for these issues and has a portal for short-term rental survey. A thought: What is the city’s process for disciplining a bad landlord of a rental property? Can the same process be used for short-term rentals? Let’s go there next.
Everyone knows where the party houses are located — even some Dallas City Council members. If we can beef up enforcement, it becomes cost-prohibitive for the party house owner, and legal channels are observed. It may be a slow process, but it will work.
The Texas Supreme Court has come out in favor of property rights and have disallowed some of the more restrictive laws and covenants cities and HOAs have enacted. Let’s do this right and legally.
Third, the City of Dallas needs to allow the platforms to collect taxes and send the money directly to them. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the City may potentially add $4-plus million to their coffers per year. The huge uptick in tax collection should enable the city to add a few more inspectors specifically to deal with the party house issue.
In conclusion, yes, “party houses” need to be shut down. We all want this. The larger question is why do we need a volume of new ordinances/regulations and a new level of bureaucracy when it appears that the problem can be resolved by leveraging the short-term rental platforms and using existing ordinances and existing personnel for enforcement?
Regardless of how we move forward, let’s be careful to craft rules that are fair for everyone, including the 98.5 percent of responsible short-term rental operators who don’t allow “party houses.”
