Lisa Sievers: We Can Make Short-Term Rentals Work For Everyone in Dallas
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By Lisa Sievers
Special Contributor
Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold quickly cut to the heart of the matter during the City of Dallas Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee last week:
“The big issue here for us is that of property rights,” the Dallas City Council representative for District 4 said.
The committee met on March 23 to discuss options to regulate short-term rentals in Dallas. Two of the options require a registration program for all short-term rentals and the remaining options either eliminate or severely restrict by zoning where short-term rentals can operate.
With loud voices on both sides of this issue, maybe it’s time to dial down the volume and listen to each other. We may find we want the same things.
Registration
The City of Dallas already requires Short-Term Rental (STR) owners to register and pay the city’s Hotel and Occupancy Tax. The two committee options for registration involve running registration through the existing rental registration program or forming a new entity to handle registration along with inspections, posting of house rules, the registration number on advertisements (i.e. platforms such as VRBO and Airbnb), a 24-hour contact person, as well as fines.
Shelby Fletcher of Dallas STR Alliance — an organized group of more than 400 STR operators and community stakeholders — says, “The vast majority of Dallas short-term rental operators are good actors who bring value to their neighborhoods. We support the Dallas City Council’s push to create a regulatory scheme that punishes the small handful of bad actors and preserves the rights of neighbors and good short-term rental operators.”
Registration does not appear to be a problem. The city can leverage the platforms to provide the STR registration number on all ads. The city can then track the bad actors and provide further enforcement including leveraging the platforms to remove them completely. Not to mention automate the collection of the Hotel and Occupancy Tax that goes directly to the city.
Zoning Options
Texas has always been a business-friendly state. It is also a big property rights state as evidenced by Zaatari vs. the City of Austin in which the Texas State Appeals Court has come out in favor of property rights and has disallowed some of the more restrictive laws enacted. Restrictive zoning will end in taxpayer-funded lawsuits.
According to VisitDallas, 27 million people visit Dallas yearly making an economic impact of $8.8 billion and providing 65,000 jobs in the tourism industry. Why do we want to limit entrepreneurs by zoning them out of existence?
Vera Elkins, has been managing STR apartments for a local business owner for about five years in East Dallas. This work has made it possible for her to help take care of her grandmother and adult special needs brother.
“Regulations that would put us out of business would mean unemployment for my family and about 10 other people, which in turn means families would lose their sole source of income,” Elkins said. “Zoning regulation cripples the heart of entrepreneurship at the expense of property rights while stealing from ‘COVID recovering’ families.”
For some, the right to operate an STR is an equity issue, allowing first-time homebuyers the opportunity to earn extra money to help pay their mortgage or allowing fixed-income retirees to continue to stay in their homes by earning a little extra to help with bills and property taxes. There are hundreds of stories like these.
Zoning changes will also take at least a year, but more likely two to three years to get passed. This is too long for neighborhoods to wait.
Dallas already has a 311 program in place that is designed to take care of nuisance items such as noise, parking, occupancy, trash, and other issues. Can we ask the code enforcement group to work Friday nights and weekends to document 311 events? Can we ask them to issue fines and process violation information under a three-strikes program? Yes, and Yes.
Require registration, a 24/7 contact, and registration number for the platform listing. Strengthen the 311 program and leverage the platforms to remove bad actors based on evidence. We are all saying the same thing — no one wants party houses. But why penalize the vast majority of good STR operators whose livelihoods are at stake?
See the city’s presentation on Short-Term Rental options below:
City of Dallas Quality of L… by Jo Jemison England
Lisa Sievers has lived in East Dallas for over 30 years. She is an interior designer, having founded her small business 25 years ago. She and her husband own and operate two short-term rentals in East Dallas for which they have over 750 5-Star reviews.
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Thank you for this well-informed article, Lisa. I am a short-term rental owner who is pained by the negative publicity that a rare-few bad apples have caused with their party houses. I would hate for these to put so many individual hosts, their cleaners, other service people, and all the small businesses that neighborhood Airbnb guests frequent.
It would also hurt the large proportion of my guests who are small families visiting other family, medical facilities, or SMU who want a home nearby where they can stay together, rather than a hotel. They like sitting or grilling in the back yard, hanging out in the living room, cooking in the kitchen, walking the picturesque neighborhood, and frequenting local restaurants and shops.
I believe all responsible hosts would love it if their listing platforms would handle paying Dallas city HOT taxes, rather than do the bookkeeping and figure out the confusing website to do it themselves monthly. They would love the city clamping down on bad apples so good apples aren’t harmed by association.
Lisa Sievers & the Dallas STR group are misrepresenting TX case law regarding cities’ ability to zone & regulate STRs (see link for full explanation). The Dallas STR group also fails to acknowledge the issue is more than just party houses. Neighbors bought in residential neighborhoods with the expectation their neighbors would be residents, not commercial lodging businesses catering transient tourists.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc37b7c755be2603ca0b7b3/t/606077a426611066ba4ebbee/1616934820662/TX+Cities+Have+Ample+Legal+Authority+to+Address+the+Problems+STRs+Create.pdf
Lisa never had the right to open up an Airbnb in a residential neighborhood, it is against 2 laws. (Rentals must be longer than 30 days and must be in a commercial or mixed use area). She should follow the law like her neighbors do.
Short-term rental operators are missing the point as always. Of course we object to to the numerous disturbances created by their businesses in our neighborhoods. What the STR operators never want to recognize is that we object to the commercialization of our neighborhoods. Well- behaved or not, the non-owner occupied short-term rental is a commercial use of the property. The 5900 block of Prospect Ave has four full short-term rentals. These STRS are tearing up the community and for what? They contribute absolutely nothing to the community.
I own 3 STR in N Oak Cliff and I’ve only had 1 incident where there was a party- it was taken care of swiftly and with out the police.
I’ve been able to host local neighbors when their pipes busted and flooded their homes, we accept pets So, that was a real plus for these folks.
We have also hosted local neighbors while their homes were being renovated, after this past snow storm all 3 of my STR were occupied with locals.
I have been able to keep would be parties at bay by not renting to locals without any reviews.
My homes sleep no more than 6 people.
We require IDs. We also pay the city of Dallas 7% hotel tax and the STR insurance is not cheap!
I also own apartments. I do believe we can come to a agreement with the city and neighbors where they can be monitored, by the city, and too many noise/party complaints should be addressed with the owner. That’s how it is with apartments.
The party houses or a few bad apples are giving this great opportunity to owners and good renters a bad reputation. I can guarantee the good owners out weigh the absentee owners with no business operating a STR.
We’ve heard all that before. Only saints and visiting nuns stay in my STR. It doesn’t matter. If it is a non-owner occupied short-term rental it is commercial use of the property and has no place in a residential zone. They take up valuable housing and add nothing to the fabric of the community. Guests don’t support the local economy in the long run. They don’t use doctors, dentists, dog groomers, dry cleaners and so on. Guests don’t participate civically.
Actually, wrong on the $$ part – if you, say, had a condo and it attracted 200 folks throughout year visiting and you’re in a hip hood, those 200 per capita are spending more than the single person otherwise living there as a renter.
STR is too big of a beast now, but I understand both sides.
However, there will be transformation just like everything in life, what was the law or what you expected is going to change, and on flip side, it may not be the easiest thing in the world to have ability to airbnb …..there will be compromises on both sides of the fence
Fed will have to create something and we just need standardization and Airbnb and the companies need to figure this out. Airbnb is a great thing for society tho, it has allowed and given owners and the people who rent lots of value. thats a fact. its disruptive. thats what uber and netflix do…they challenge status quo.
The general public of the USA and world must decide. if they decide its a free for all then so be it. We have to do what the will of the people want, not the first comers and those who dont want to change. This is life. 2021, nothing is forever and things will evolve. If you are not evolving constantly, you are dying.
I also own an STR in North Oak Cliff. It’s a small studio above my garage and was there when I purchased the property in 2007. Like Jennifer, I have hosted many neighbors, families and friends from near and far. Since it’s in my backyard and I’m at home during any visit, there have never been any parties or disturbances. In fact, I would be surprised if most of my neighbors even realize it’s an STR. The guests always use my driveway parking and there are never cars on the street. With a two person maximum, my operation is small potatoes.
I understand and share the STR concerns. I’m also an STR host. I know more of my neighbors as a result, becuase I value their safety and quiet enjoyment of their home, just as I do mine. I maintain a social media account that drives our guests to support local restaurants and businesses. I spend significantly more on the upkeep of the rental than I would as a LTR landlord or owner occupier, resulting in a beautiful space and stable property value. I’m able to WFH, which allows me to keep an eye out for strange behavior in our neighborhood, pick up packages for neighbors working outside the home, and participate in local HOA meetings. I too was also able to house my neighbors when pipes burst and renovations were needed. In short, I’m a better neighbor because I’m a STR host. Should STRs be regulated to prioritize quiet, clean, well-behaved guests – absolutely. But banning them outright hurts us too, as entrepreneurs, as local businesses, and as involved, good-natured neighbors. Food for thought.
If your STR is not your home then the people who actually have to live near your STR hotel are not your neighbors. They are the ones having to put up with the commercialization of their neighborhood so you can make some money. Would you purchase a home next to a non-owner occupied STR? Knowing that there will be rotating groups of STR ages there not a neighbor you will come to know? Of course not.
I would purchase a home next to a well-run non-owner-occupied STR. They would never get away with allowing the property to run down or not be able to evict a bad-apple tenant.
I would, however, think twice about purchasing a house next to a long-term rental – and absolutely not in a neighborhood of long-term rentals.
Wonderful response.
Heres another one…a STR unit that has no general risks of getting its business shut down is obviously more valuable than the former. its simple math…1 br condo could get you $1500 reg rent or $2500 in ST rent – hypothetically, so if you sold your condo as such…well, i can tell you – you will fetch more $$.
thats for any home that has that ability esp smaller ones, or condos, or townhomes that sometimes have HOAs meddle.
I have two STRs in East Dallas and I cater to families. Most of my guests are here for medical appointments or for quick business trips. In a time of Covid concerns, STRs are an option to bypass having to stay at a hotel and for any health concerns. I constantly maintain my property and believe they add old Dallas charm which I’m proud of.
We’ve heard all that before. Only saints and visiting nuns stay in my STR. It doesn’t matter. If it is a non-owner occupied short-term rental it is commercial use of the property and has no place in a residential zone. They take up valuable housing and add nothing to the fabric of the community. Guests don’t support the local economy in the long run. They don’t use doctors, dentists, dog groomers, dry cleaners and so on. Guests don’t participate civically.
I am a 26 time super host and have never had a problem because I am always in the property. That is the key.
I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that STR owners who are making money commercializing residential neighborhoods want to continue to be able to commercialize residential neighborhoods, but these STR owners aren’t listening to the concerns of neighboring residents. The problem isn’t just the party houses, it is the commercialization of our residential neighborhoods. It’s much needed housing being taken away from locals who are looking to buy or rent longterm. It’s true neighbors being replaced by unstaffed commercial businesses that bring a revolving door of strangers into our communities. It’s local taxpayers being asked to pay for the “more robust 311 program” so that STR owners can profit off commercializing our neighborhoods (per state law, STR enforcement must be paid for out of the general fund). You are advocating for a “solution” that offers NO solution for residents who want to live in TRUE residential neighborhoods, free from with commercial businesses, with REAL neighbors. You offer NO solution for taxpayers who don’t think it’s fair that they should be forced to pay for additional STR enforcement so STR owners can profit off mini-motels in our residential neighborhoods that we didn’t want there to begin with. Where are the residents of Dallas who want to live in real neighborhoods supposed to go if any & ever neighborhood can be turned into a hotel district?