STR Owner must live within 75 miles of unit? Is this normal??

Question

Hi BP!

The town where we have one of our STR is proposing an ordinance that the owner must reside within 75 miles of the rental OR have a contract with a 'resident agent' who must live within 25 miles of the rental!

Has anyone heard of or have experience with a local municipality instituting such an ordinance? How about fighting it?

The other bad idea they are proposing is that all rentals must pay to have a landline phone (for emergencies). Ironically, this town removed their last remaining pay phone a decade ago...

Is this also normal in anyone's experience??

Thanks for any input y'all can offer!

Joseph Cacciapaglia · Answer

Municipalities are experimenting with all sorts of rules related to STR. So far we have just been doing everything we can to work with the city. Some of the requirements seem silly, but it's a small price to pay to be able to run a hospitality business out of a residential property. I haven't run into the specific issues that you've mentioned, but I can see where they are coming from with both requirements. I wouldn't suggest trying to fight, unless they propose something that really shuts you down. We have a lot more success working with the city, and sometimes they're offering suggestions on creative solutions for dealing with some of their requirements.

Drew Brown · Answer

@Travis Juntti if you have any questions related to rental properties let me know I currently work in the management space.

Drew Sygit · Answer

Most cities in Metro Detroit require an owner or their agent to be within 25 miles of a rental property.

Too many out-of-state owners refuse to obey local ordinances and it's too expensive for the cities to pursue them out-of-state.

Instead of hiring a full-service PMC and paying 30%, why don't you negotiate with them for just the services you need?

Denise H. · Answer

I own a STR in Lake Arrowhead, Ca., they require the owner or agent be within a 1 hour drive.

Travis Juntti · Answer

@Drew Brown I do not currently own any STR or LTR, working towards that now.

Drew Brown · Answer

@Travis Juntti do you have STR or LTR? I noticed your in the Howell area not to far from Lansing.

Travis Juntti · Answer

@Drew Sygit Yes this does make sense, everything is negotiable.  In reality, I don't see a problem with this regulation.

Travis Juntti · Answer

@Kurt Heggland did you ever find out who you could use as a "local agent"?  I've been looking into this in Western Michigan and most area's have a similar regulation.  I plan to call a few of them and see satisfies the "local agent" requirement.  As you said, if it's a local property manager, that would make the profits much lower.  Hopefully that could be a handyman of sorts.

@Jeff Purl, it could be a nice gig for a "resident agent".  I'd be interested if there was one in some of the beach towns on Lake Michigan.

Jason Goretzki · Answer

The landline must be provided for 911, especially for guests that stay out of the country as their cell phones may not work on our networks.  It is a legal requirement for hotels, thus it carries over to STR.  If you are already providing internet, you can by-pass the lack of a landline by getting a VOIP/SIP line & then use any touch tone (not rotary) phone with an ATA (analog telephone adapter).  It is kind of like when over the air TV went digital, & everyone was getting digital converter boxes for their TVs.  Alternatively, you might be able to use old cell-phones, as they are required to still provide 911 even with out service.

STR Owner must live within 75 miles of unit? Is this normal??

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