As the debate over short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods rages on in Dallas, another room-sharing platform has entered the mix but doesn’t appear to have much traction locally.
Hundreds of Dallas-Fort Worth properties are featured on short-term rental sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, and we’ve talked to several readers who enjoy using Swimply — which allows people to rent a swimming pool for the day — but the latest trend is sharing an affordable stay in just one room of a home through Atlanta-based PadSplit.
PadSplit currently features just 11 Dallas-area properties with rooms for rent starting at $159 per week.
A representative who answered the phone number listed for PadSplit said the platform offers room to individuals only — no spouses, children, or pets. Rental rates are only offered weekly or biweekly, and a $19 application fee is required. The representative said she was unable to answer questions specific to Dallas and how the platform operates within the confines of individual city codes and zoning designations.
The platform is advertised as “more of a home than a hotel,” and users are verified through background checks to “ensure a safe home environment.”
The Dallas Plan Commission recently began reviewing city code regarding short-term rentals and a city council decision could be forthcoming in restricting or eliminating the platforms in residential neighborhoods. Airbnb already has banned “party houses,” which some say solves the problem of noise and code violations in neighborhoods.
PadSplit has operated for four years and has a 2.85-star rating (out of five) from reviews through the Better Business Bureau. The platform claims that 80 percent of users would recommend PadSplit to a friend.
In response to complaints through the Better Business Bureau, PadSplit representatives say their aim is to solve the housing crisis by “leveraging housing as a vehicle for financial empowerment.”
Forty-eight complaints have been filed against the platform in three years.
The Listings
PadSplit entered the Texas market in 2020 with about $10 million in financing, according to TechCrunch, but hasn’t experienced the same popularity as other short-term rental options. PadSplit rooms are listed in the Texas cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Galena Park, Pasadena, Baytown, Houston, and San Antonio, but none in Dallas proper, where the issue of home-sharing has been publicly debated in recent months.
Green Light Property Management is listing two rooms in the same brick home in Haltom City, at $169 and $176 per week. A higher price could mean a walk-in closet, attached bathroom, or more floor space.
The rooms are furnished but bed linens are not provided. Guests use a shared dining area, washer and dryer, and full kitchen. They enter through a coded keypad.
Green Light also has a home available on PadSplit in east Arlington.
Officials from Green Light Property Management did not respond to a request for comment from Daltxrealestate.com.
Other area listings include homes in Fort Worth’s Willow Creek and Falcon Ridge Legacy.
PadSplit hosts are required to have property insurance and general liability insurance.
Not Quite Solving The Housing Crisis
A review of PadSplit published in The Startup claims the platform neither solves the housing affordability crisis nor does it define the member/host relationship as landlord and tenant.
“PadSplit seeks to exist in a legal gray area by telling its ‘members’ they don’t have tenancy rights,” the article states. “This allows them to skirt eviction proceedings and create a constant stream of residents, who are kicked out and replaced if they run out of money. PadSplit’s member agreement states, ‘This is not a lease …’”
Another article in The New Republic calls the shared spaces flophouses and relates stories of former tenants who were locked out for not paying rent.
PadSplit maintains that its niche is providing a co-living marketplace for the workplace, according to the platform site.
“The model aligns incentives for property owners, cities, businesses, and workers, averaging a more than double net operating income for the homeowner,” according to the site.
Have you hosted or visited a PadSplit site? Contact us to share your experience.
