3 ms·

> people simply do not like having short-term visitors as neighbors or floormates. That's a commonly provided explanation, but I find it very hard to believe t

by baddox 8y ago

> people simply do not like having short-term visitors as neighbors or floormates. That's a commonly provided explanation, but I find it very hard to believe that existing laws and leasing rules can't/don't already easily solve this. If too many instances of noise complaints, property damage, improper trash disposal, etc. occur from your property, you (the owner or renter) get fined or evicted. It's obviously not an excuse to say that you rented out your unit on AirBnb. Surely these laws and rules have always existed, since that problem is not unique to short-term rentals. What am I missing?

coryrc 8y ago
I've been dealing with a neighbor with a barking dog for months. Good neighbor laws are essentially unenforced in the USA.
- baddox 8y ago
  Okay, then that seems like the problem. Why would short-term rentals laws be enforced any better? Unless, of course, the incentive to enforce those laws is provided by special interests like the hotel industry. Shocking.
bobthepanda 8y ago
People want zero short-term visitors as neighbors, and the law reflects that. Landlords, under existing US law, are only really liable for tenant nuisance if they should have known that the nuisance was likely (e.g., an aggressive dog in the apartment.) It's hard to really argue that you could tell anything about noisy short-term visitors, since fine upstanding members of society on a weekend trip may turn out to be party animals at night. Short-term rentals are even more difficult to enforce against just because there is a shortage of police and inspector manpower in most major cites; by the time one is able to get to you the visitor may have left already. And first offence is generally just a warning, but a warning is of little use to people taking a plane out the next day.
- baddox 8y ago
  I don’t think simply not wanting short-term visitors in your neighborhood is a legitimate desire that should be respected. It’s fine to desire a lack of specific symptoms like noise or damage. If a landlord or property owner allows guests that cause problems I don’t see why they’re any less liable than if they cause the problems themselves.

by baddox 8y ago

coryrc 8y ago

I've been dealing with a neighbor with a barking dog for months. Good neighbor laws are essentially unenforced in the USA.

baddox 8y ago
Okay, then that seems like the problem. Why would short-term rentals laws be enforced any better? Unless, of course, the incentive to enforce those laws is provided by special interests like the hotel industry. Shocking.

bobthepanda 8y ago

People want zero short-term visitors as neighbors, and the law reflects that. Landlords, under existing US law, are only really liable for tenant nuisance if they should have known that the nuisance was likely (e.g., an aggressive dog in the apartment.) It's hard to really argue that you could tell anything about noisy short-term visitors, since fine upstanding members of society on a weekend trip may turn out to be party animals at night. Short-term rentals are even more difficult to enforce against just because there is a shortage of police and inspector manpower in most major cites; by the time one is able to get to you the visitor may have left already. And first offence is generally just a warning, but a warning is of little use to people taking a plane out the next day.

baddox 8y ago
I don’t think simply not wanting short-term visitors in your neighborhood is a legitimate desire that should be respected. It’s fine to desire a lack of specific symptoms like noise or damage. If a landlord or property owner allows guests that cause problems I don’t see why they’re any less liable than if they cause the problems themselves.