Austin’s short-term rental restrictions could be a thing of the past if bills being debated at the Capitol become law.
Austin-based TurnKey Vacation Rentals‘ CEO T.J. Clark is applauding the debate and says consistency is key for good business and that STRs are not that different from long-term rentals. “We think that those two types of rentals should be regulated in similar ways, and we think that the State Constitution basically provides for this.”
TurnKey doesn’t compete with AirB&B or HomeAway, rather serving as property management for homeowners who want to rent their properties out. Clark says they are all for common sense regulations. “What we’re not supportive of is where Austin went way beyond those basic regulations, and way beyond dealing with a few bad apple rentals in the Austin market.”
Clark says existing ordinances in Austin are enough to deal with the problems of STRs that are ‘party houses. “In fact Austin did a study, and they looked at the incidence of 3-1-1, which are non-emergency calls that basically report zoning and other violations, that found that the incidence of calls for short-term regulations was actually less than incidence of calls for long-term renters.”
Two similar STR bills are being debated in the House and Senate.
