County fines landlord $29,000 for VRBO

County fines landlord $29,000 for VRBO

property manager · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 171 votes

I noticed that we have had requests from Owner's to vacation rental their homes in Vegas as a method of trying to get higher returns. There is an issue that folks should be aware of, the county has put it's sights on rentals under one month and fines run about $1,000 per day, as anything less than 30 days violates current county code. Previous fines have been as high as $29,000. I understand they will be aggressively searching through web sites listing short term vacation rentals.

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  • Developer · Garland, TX · Member since 2008 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    13y

    Protecting hotels and casinos, a very powerful lobby. Hawaii really goes after the small guy too.

  • property manager · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 171 votes
    13y

    We certainly need to be protected from our capitalistic selves...cannot have a true free market or else folks might actually recover some wealth. This will be another income generator to keep all the code enforcement jobs in place.

  • David NilesBusiness Member
    Property Manager · DeLand FL · Member since 2012 · 860 posts · 243 votes
    13y
    Originally posted by Tiger M.:
    We certainly need to be protected from our capitalistic selves...cannot have a true free market or else folks might actually recover some wealth. This will be another income generator to keep all the code enforcement jobs in place.

    Thats hilarious and sad at the same time. Gotta love big brother making sure the little guy doesnt infringe on the mega moneys turf.

  • Real Estate Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 28 posts · 3 votes
    13y

    What code does that violate? Because the county lists Vacation Rentals as a business on it's own website.

  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    13y

    Tiger - I'd love to find out more about this as well. Seems protectionist for certain, but without any supporting evidence, I've got nothing to go with. Can you point to any reports on this, cases, or other solid sources?

    Thanks!

  • Real Estate Investor · Squaw Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 101 posts · 17 votes
    13y

    Wow, such a shame. Free enterprise, what is that?! Shaking my head....

  • Developer · Garland, TX · Member since 2008 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    13y
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    13y

    Awesome Jon Klaus. That's CRAZY! Be careful out there, folks . . . you know what they say about ignorance of the law! ALWAYS check with your lawyers when running a business, and a rental is definitely a business. These kinds of obscure ordinances can really screw things up for you if you're unaware of them.

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 732 votes
    13y

    Wow that's pretty insane $29k fine.

    This is something to keep aware of though especially with the rise in sites like AirBNB where property owners list their homes to rent out daily. How many of these people are actually violating local laws/'ordinances or their rental agreements?

  • property manager · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 171 votes
    13y

    Joshua Dorkin I'm no attorney, just a natural born fool from Idaho. I will dig into the county code and see what they state.
    Here is the article from the newspaper today
    http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/jan/28/ordinance-working-party-houses-still-around-county/

    here is the article from the large fine
    http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/mar/06/homeowner-hit-29000-fine-under-party-house-ordinan/

    Nicolo Nisbett You are correct. Here is the link that I found on the county web site, http://library.municode.com/HTML/16214/level2/TIT6BULI_CH6.12FEREMA.html#TIT6BULI_CH6.12FEREMA_6.12.982VAHO
    They must be looking for the annual $300 fee from unlicensed properties...and sales tax. So apparently our rental activities are illegal unless licensed. When does it end, oh, death.

  • Real Estate Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 28 posts · 3 votes
    13y

    Then when you try to get license they tell you you cant because of zoning issues, luckily I have written documentation of all my registrations county and state, approval from HOA, tax collections, and application for business license and then written go ahead to rent without a license, so we'll see I might get hoofed in the end but at least I tried to comply with the rules.

    It's so ridiculous they don't talk about how investors are taking houses that have been sitting vacant, improving neighborhoods and values, and working to make areas in Las Vegas (other than the strip) attractive, and believe me there are a lot of bad areas.

  • Landlord · San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 129 posts · 49 votes
    13y

    Well these guys got nailed because they agreed with the city not to rent it out on a short term rental but did it anyways. That's just dumb. Anyhow, this is a good reminder for me to register my airbnb unit with the city and start paying my TOT taxes.

  • property manager · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 171 votes
    13y

    John Mireles I just got off the phone with both the city and the county. If the property is county, it's illegal, period. If it's city, allowed, license required.
    The HOA's are jumping in on restricting rentals too. Just had to turn away a client with 3 homes because the HOA decided to adopt tenant limits. The poor guy bought homes that had been previously rented and when the tenants vacated, there went his allocation. The HOA is shooting itself in the foot, they would rather have vacant homes to become drug houses than occupied by families. My blood pressure is getting a bit high today...

  • Real Estate Agent · Henderson, NV · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 550 votes
    13y

    I believe some county properties can do the short term rentals, but these are primarily condos on or near the strip with the proper zoning.
    Tiger M. HOAs and rental restrictions are tricky. I've been dealing with that more lately as well. I was talking to an owner-occupant that needs to move. He had no idea about the rental restrictions in his area.

  • Durham, NC · Member since 2012 · 498 posts · 48 votes
    13y

    It may hurt some investors, but it is not unreasonable to enforce such a law. Imagine what we think if our neighbors convert their homes into "hotels." I have heard about the same law in other places too, but don't know to what degree they enforce it.

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