New Ordinance in Las Vegas

New Ordinance in Las Vegas

Hello fellow Las Vegas hosts,

 

Now that the city council adopted the new ordinance, where does that leave us? I have bookings through next spring, some of which will now exceed the guest limit I am allowed based on the number of bedrooms in the house. I'm sure there are others facing the same battle, amongst others, like the SUP requirement. How do you plan to implement the changes? If we must cancel the reservations for the folks that now exceed the guest limit, will we be punished by Airbnb in regards to rating and superhost status? 

 

Any thoughts on the subject???

 

 

33 Replies 33
Zacharias0
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

The ordinance was poorly thought out and as many council members noted is very ambigious and difficult to enforce. How is the city going to verify ANY of the standards they set? Insurance and a business license is about all they can guarantee. Showing up unannounced isn't the best use of money and probably illegal considering they don't have a warrant to search the property and who is to say when they show up you will even have guests. The city didn't realize that a good majority of these short term rentals either move around in this city or are just for a brief period in time. I ran a short term rental for a year and closed it and will probably open another one in the future. This is the governments way of trying to set rules upon an industry that creates its own rules. Ever heard of UBER? The creators of the ordinance were so far removed from how short term rentals work the rules they created could apply to most any business being run out of a house. Most of the rules were over reaching and didn't speak to the heart of the matter.

 

In regards to your questions I didn't know you could book a year in advance for reservations. You'll probably be fine all things considered. Especially if your house hasn't been spotted yet, you don't see a lot of foot traffice and the guests are quiet during their stay. About the number of people per room I've seen 3 families in one house before so I must ask why has the city not clamped down on that clear violation? Like I said if you aren't stuffing 20 people in a 3 bedroom house you should be fine. Use common sense.

 

Id start making my minimum requirement for a reservation longer. Like I said the government is too slow to react and caught up with running a city to be worried about who is coming in and out of our houses.

Joanna85
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

I agree with @Zacharias0.  There are THOUSANDS of illegal Airbnb spaces.  In my neighborhood alone there are whole entire houses as SUPs without the licensing...five to ten on every street. Neighbors can report the homes to Code Enforcement but that department is so stinking busy.  There is absolutely NO WAY they can regulate what's going on.  And let's face it (sorry- this always gets me going!)...if it were not for all these out of state investors buying up these homes at these RIDICULOUS prices, usually in all cash, our neighborhoods would be empty or rents would have to be so so so much lower for us locals to afford to live here.  The city needs the SUPs, legal or not, which is why the new ordinance is so ambiguous. Remember about Lyft and Uber?  SUPs are the same exact way...EVERY lyft and uber drive must get the two licenses to operate their vehicles...but lyft and uber allow the drivers to use their app without proof...so there are thousands of those guys driving around illegally, too...and there is absolutely no enforcement. My husband has both licenses and this gets him worked up every day--he says if all the drivers without licenses got off the street he would be making mad money lol. This short term rental deal is the exact same way...but nobody is enforcing the law because they need those drivers on the road and they need these SUPs.  My neighbors were all so happy when the new,'improved' ordinance passed...then they all realized there was nothing about enforcement...so now they are planning the next move, but there won't be a next move...the city needs these SUPs for all sorts of reasons...this ordinance was just simply to passify the locals who own homes and were being pesky and bothersome about the 'hotels' in their neighborhoods.  They have yet to realize this is better than empty neighborhoods, which brings on way worse problems than an occaisional noisey party from a SUP house or cars parked on the side of the street...yeah, that's the main complaint for my neighbors..too many parked cars on the side of a city street due to these 'hotels' next door to them.

My advice is carry on and for future reservations do what you are supposed to do to be in compliance. the liklihood of someone knocking on our door about this issue is just so small BECAUSE THE CITY NEEDS THESE SUPs TO SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS...relax and just do what you can 🙂

Thanks to you both for your responses! I appreciate the feedback and POV! The house is in the Scotch 80, so it has been highly publicized thanks to hostile neighbors, ick! They are always watching for a slip up. Oddly enough, we got a letter from the city earlier this month, dated 4/30/17, yet the postmark was dated 5/31/17...(it obviously sat on someones desk). The letter said that due to their error, they issued the conditional license (back in 4/2016) in error, as there is a STR within 660 feet who was issued their license in 3/2016. They said to apply for the SUP, or quit. If we apply for the SUP they are waiving the fee and will allow us to operate during the process. We started the application and are now awaiting the hearing. We shall see what happens. Thanks again for your information and perspectives, good luck to us all!

@Joanna85@Alyce2  Any updates on the Special Use Permit? My realtor was saying that people are hardly getting approved for it, but it could just be speculation. Also, was it difficult to get the short term rental permit?

 

 

@Zacharias0

I think now people are just not applying for it thinking it's going to be harder to get approved due to the vagueness of the new ordinance and all sorts of just plain speculation.  I also believe that if you are just renting out ONE room in your own home and you are not under that 652 feet of another permitted STR...or however many feet it is...you will get approved, otherwise all sorts of other things go into motion to get your approval.  A guy the other night asked for a waiver for the alloted feet and made a pretty strong case for it--but my neighbors were all anxious because they simply just DO NOT want STRs in the neighborhood.  There is a neighbor of mine who goes to every single city council meeting or city planning meeting to oppose ANYONE in his neighborhood wanting a permit or waiver.  If neighbors go and oppose it, it has a good chance of not getting approved.  It's silliness in my opinion---there are thousands of illegal vacation homes so there is just no way of enforcing the ordinance and I still cannot understand why all my neighbors are so opposed to this---these investors are snatching up all these homes at crazy prices, driving up the maket.  I'd think my neighbors would be so happy about this----otherwise these homes would turn in to regular rentals and they'd have to make the rent prices affordable to locals, which causes all sorts of way worse issues then just the inability to park their car in the street or they have to hear a bit of noise between 8pm-10pm....lol.   I heard talk that the big deal is in older wards like where I live...where these long-time residents are just fit to be tied but in newer areas with a lot more transciency nobody seems to care.  Even so, my neighborhood over the last two years especially probably half emptied and filled up with all sorts of STRs...most are not licensed.  These STRs saved the look and feel of the area, in my opinon...because all the homes have been redone, the yards look great..we all know how hard it is to get decent reviews, so these investors are going to keep the homes up as much as they can.  The issue is going to be in another two or so years when investors want to sell these homes off--who's going to snatch them up at these prices?!!!  

Isn't there anyone else on the AirBnB hosts side? I want to get in on a class action suit against the Las Vegas planning commission. Doesn't AirBnB have a HOSTS Advocate somewhere??? I'm an amazing host, who is responsible and selective about my guests. I run an honest business, I communicate well with my guests,  keep my neighbors happy and house clean, inside and out. I have designated parking and video cameras in front to verify the number of occupants. I want to keep my listing going but the mounting pressure and these regulations from the SUP are just created to be annoying. I don't know who they are appeasing. Before I started my AirBnB my beautiful condos were occupied by drug using squatters, Metro Police and the Las Vegas Planning commission didn't fine them a nickel for trashing my place. I am left with the damages, and I'm still paying taxes to the City? Really?

 @Alyce2, any news?!

Hey Antonio! Thanks for reaching out! Shortly after I had posted the initial comment, we received a notice from the City of Las Vegas, saying that our license was issued in error, and we are now violating the 660ft rule as there is a property 343ft away, that was licensed a few weeks earlier than ours was. They didn't notice the error for over a year and expect us to close. We pursued the SUP and were denied by the planning commission. We have escalated it to the city council, however, their recommendation is denial. This will be our last month in operation as a short term rental. That's where we are now. I understand the need for regulation, but the process is broken. I have been watching as the SUP's are applied for and heard at the various meetings, it is few and far between to see an approval.

 

The city is actively pursuing illegal operations now too. There is a neighbor a couple houses down from ours who is being sued for about $79,000.00 for operating without a license. That case will be heard tomorrow at the city council meeting.

 

Thank you again for asking about our update, I hope all is well in your world!

Hi. I don’t see any recent posts regarding ordinances. I have been holding off on making any changes to my posting due to all of the issues that I have been hearing about. My place is in Henderson. Yesterday I received a notice of violation from my HOA for AB&B short term rental. I haven’t had a guest since March and they barely stayed 24 hours.  I am very picky about my guests. I am so disappointed in this so called “world renowned” city. 

Robin226
Level 1
Elk Grove Village, IL

We need to start a class action suit against the Clark County Ordinance.

Or have the owners grandfathered in to rent as always.

I have incorporated, signed up with the state for tax no. to pay taxes and contacted the County of Clark for an annual 

license fee of 300.00 per year. And they told me no body gets a license to rent south of Sahara and if you are North of 

Sahara you can obtain a license. I think this is selective descrimination since this is not mentioned in the new ordinace.

I beleive we need to hire and share the expenses to fight the county.

And we are also threatened to be fined a 1000.00 per day.

Airbnb needs to get involved since there will be a revenue loss for them.

Why are they not helping us?

I thought I would chime in here having a property in Unicorporated Clark County that is primarily booked for families, business clients, and youth sports teams in town for tournaments.  I have a very very angry neighbor that is not even on my street but found out that I had been renting my home for 4 + years successfully and now has made it his life's goal to shut me down 😞 lol  So I am very interested in havinge a very vocal presence here in Las Vegas to help build and create some guidelines & regulations to legitimize this AMAZING industry.  

 

Anyone have any insight into what it brewing here in Unicorporated Clark County / Las Vegas to legalize this ? 

 

Cheers 🙂 

 

- Aaron

Yes!!! I agree! I want to get in on this class action law suit. I pay my taxes to Nevada and Clark County, and they have not done jack to help me with damages when squatters used my place. They were caught and they didn't even fine them or put them in jail. Now I have decent AirBnB guests and now I have to pay for a Special Use Permit??? On top of my property taxes? I want the local government to own up to their responsibilities to Property Owners! We should be able to do whatever we want with our homes so long as there is no disruption to the neighbors. 

Jack70
Level 5
Las Vegas, NV

Aron, I am on the same boat as you, Ihad been doing AirBnB for 3 yrs. super host doing great renting 2 bedrooms of our house, mostly Europeans, our nieghbor turned us in and we got a warnig letter put on our front door, we since have started listing our place for min. of 30 days with  no luck.

 

Jose413
Level 2
Las Vegas, NV

Hi all . I'm a class action attorney from California and also own several homes I put on Airbnb . I am new to Vegas and still trying to figure out the onslought of problems facing hosts and whether it's worth it to rent or Airbnb legally or to find ways around the system . At one of my houses I had to get creatibe because of a neihnnei who complained to the Hoa (Mountains Edge) . I found a short term solution around the HOA but in the face of the SUP issue, likelihood of enforcement, and potential problem neighbors I'm wondering if the this is all worth it .  

 

I have not yet analyzed the class potential issue but I am starting to consider it . I would not be the attorney to take the case because I am in retirement mode (sick of California ridiculous prices).

 

Can someone tell me what does Airbnb report to the city as of now.  As I speak to my class action friends I will post mu findings.  

 

Thanks all for the great info.