BRR’s call-for-action for members and consumers can be found at boirealtors.com/short-term-rental-restrictions.
September 20, 2019 Press Release:
Idaho REALTORS® (IR) and Boise Regional REALTORS® (BRR) oppose a recent City of Boise proposal to regulate and restrict short-term rentals.
“We are fundamentally opposed to this restriction of private property rights,” said Phil Mount, 2019 BRR President. “This is a significant overstep that threatens one of the most basic precepts of property ownership; the right to rent. We understand and appreciate the concerns of affordability, safety, and neighborhood nuisance violations that are trying to be addressed by the City, but this is the wrong approach. Instead of creating new regulations or restrictions, let’s use the code enforcement tools that are already in place should an issue arise, instead of singling out short-term rentals as the neighborhood scapegoat.”
“The proposed short-term rental ordinance from the City of Boise is a clear overreach, attempting to skirt Idaho code. Idaho law and city ordinance already offer remedy for the issues that the City of Boise wants to address. Idaho REALTORS® have worked to codify legislation that protects the right to rent across the state and we are committed to defending those efforts,” said Raphael Barta, President of IR.
“REALTORS® are deeply invested in this community and strive to maintain it as a great place to live, work, and recreate. We look forward to collaborating with the City to find common sense solutions that embrace private property rights, rather than restrict them,” said Soren Dorius, Director of Government Affairs for BRR.
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Boise Regional REALTORS® (BRR) is a 501(c)(6) trade association, representing real estate professionals throughout the Boise region. Established in 1920, BRR is the largest local REALTOR® association in the state of Idaho, helping members achieve real estate success through ethics, professionalism, and connections. BRR has two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Intermountain MLS and the Boise Regional REALTORS® Community Foundation.
Idaho REALTORS® (IR) promotes the business interests of its members, advances the high standards of business conduct expressed in the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and protects private property rights.
Greetings,
I’m relatively new to Boise. My wife and I purchased a property here in 2017 and moved here in June 2018. We lived in Bend, Oregon for 15 years and we renovated and rented 4 furnished Short Term Rentals and one furnished long term (30 days or more).
The City of Bend sort of ignored the explosion of short term (vacation) rentals until the neighborhoods rose up and made a lot of noise about “traffic, parking, noise, and general nuisance issues”. Very little of these complaints were actually valid. In addition, the argument was made that by allowing STR’s to flourish, somehow the rental inventory for renters was being diminished and property values were increasing to the point that the average citizen could not afford to purchase a single-family home.
So, the City of Bend created a citizen task force that was called the “Vacation Rental Task Force”. At this point “Vacation Rentals” were getting a bad rap. I volunteered to serve on this “task force” to have a voice in how the city proceeded. I can’t remember exactly how many people were actually on the task force but I think it was like 24 or so people. There were the pro short term rental advocates like me and there were the neighborhood activists that wanted an outright ban. The city had it’s own ideas about what it wanted to do and in the end, the recommendations from the now renamed “Short-term rental task force” were largely ignored and the city did what it wanted to do which was to impose what many believed were “extreme regulations”.
So after months of hard work, thousands of hours of citizen and city involvement the city approved the new regulations and they went into effect on April 15, 2015. You can view the regulations here. https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/departments/community-development/licenses-and-permits/short-term-rental-program
One thing that came about from this effort was the beginnings of an advocacy group called the STR Advocacy of Central Oregon where STR Owners could have a voice. The problem was that this group got started too late in the process. The City of Bend had it’s way and now it’s much more difficult and costly for a property owner to chose how to rent his/her property.
We now operate 2 rentals in Boise. There will be a 3rd one within the next year. We offer both Short Term (Nightly, weekly) and Long Term (29 days or more) in our rentals. We have options and so do our renters. Although I’m not opposed to some basic licensing, there are steps (best practices) that can be taken to make sure Short Term Rentals are not a threat to neighborhoods, property values without imposing extreme regulations on the property owners.
I would like to get in front of this issue before it gets any actual traction.
Thanks for listening,
Stanley Roach – Level 10 Airbnb Superhost
541-771-5440
Thank you for your comments, Stanley! We may reach out to you directly to learn more about your experience. If you haven’t already, please share your thoughts with the City of Boise at https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/planning-and-development-services/planning-and-zoning/short-term/#feedback.