June 12, 2019
By Matt Miller
Earlier this week,
Denver media breathlessly reported on the case of Alexander and Stacy Neir, who
are accused of “illegally
running a short-term rental scheme through Airbnb.” As a friend said when
he saw the story: The horror!
To be clear: If they
are guilty as charged, then what the Neirs were doing was illegal. According to
the government, the couple falsely claimed two homes as primary residences in
order to skirt a Denver law that only allows you to use your primary residence
for short-term rentals. Lying to the government in order to obtain approval for
a license is illegal.
But why should it be
illegal to rent your home on a short-term basis when it’s not illegal to rent it
on a long-term basis? In other words, why are the Neirs criminals at all? In
reporting about the story, there is no allegation that they were running a
party house or causing any nuisances for their neighbors. There is no
allegation that they harmed, bothered, or inconvenienced anyone at all. They
were simply using their property the way millions of Americans do: to make
money by meeting the needs of travelers and other people who need a place to
stay.
Restricting short-term
rentals isn’t about preventing nuisances. Long-term rentals can create
nuisances, too, and nobody is talking about banning them. Cities have always
had the ability to police actual nuisances. So do neighbors, by bringing civil
nuisance lawsuits. No, restricting short-term rentals is about prioritizing the
personal preferences of politicians and a vocal minority of residents. That is
why you hear so much talk about “maintaining neighborhood character” or wanting
people who stay in the neighborhood to be “invested in the neighborhood.” These
are all perfectly reasonable things to want, but not at the expense of
violating the private property rights of other people.
The Neirs have been
charged with a felony because they allegedly falsified documents listing
the houses as primary residences. Their mugshots are all over local media. And
reporters are writing about them as if they are hardened, Al Capone-style
criminal masterminds.
The couple should not
have lied about their houses in order to skirt short-term rental laws. But
they should not have been forced to lie by a law that needlessly
prevents them from conducting short-term rentals from their properties. There
is no evidence that their rentals caused anyone any harm. They simply violated
a law that never should have existed.
The city says that “[t]he
challenge is that some people aren’t renting [short-term rentals] responsibly[.]”
This is undoubtedly true. There have
been irresponsible landlords since the beginning of time. But then why target
the Neirs, to the point of taking their mugshots and charging them with a
felony? Why not enforce existing nuisance laws against actual irresponsible
property owners? Like other cities, Denver says that enforcing nuisance laws is
difficult, yet provides no evidence supporting this claim. If someone is
operating a party house, it is simple enough to send a police officer when
someone complains. If the house is violating nuisance ordinances, cite the
owners. That is how most laws are enforced. Police and code enforcement
officers do it every day.
Thus, because it can’t
be bothered to police nuisances effectively, the city has decided to target the
Neirs in order to send a message to the entire home-sharing community. Perhaps
a better option would be to allow short-term rentals, enact reasonable,
constitutional regulations, and collect fees and taxes so that owners can
operate out in the open. That way, visitors to the Mile High City can continue
to enjoy everything that Denver has to offer.
Matt Miller
is a Senior Attorney at the Goldwater Institute.
