Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, that might be part of what the city is
participating in a short term rental ordinance five point fifty two.
Our time here in Houston this morning news. Amy Peck
is with us Houston City Council member. I don't know
if you supported this measure or not, Amy, but tell
me what the rationale is behind it.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, thank you for having me. Good morning. Yeah, so
I supported this ordinance. We've heard from people over the
years about party homes, where people rent out their homes
to people having parties and causing issues in their neighborhood.
And before this ordinance, we really didn't have a mechanism
(00:36):
to make people stop doing that. So this ensures that
we didn't have too big of a burden for all
of the great operators out there, but also to have
a mechanism to shut down these party homes.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, there is a two hundred and seventy five dollars fee.
I don't know if that's a burden to some. I
guess maybe to a few it might be considered a
bit of a burden. And of course it brings about
the question, especially with some of the World Cup events
and other things are be coming into the city. This
is this a revenue grab by the city to try
to help the budget.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
No, this is something that we have been working on
for many, many years to ensure that we can crack
down on these party homes. So the fee that operators
will pay will really just pay for the operation of
this program. It's not generating revenue on top of that.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Okay, go through it with us. How this works. How
do you go about registering? What are some of the
other hoops you have to jump through another in order
to be able to be operating legally with the short
term rental and that's anything less than thirty days the
way I understand.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It, Yes, if it's if it's less than thirty days,
that means that you are not a hotel, and so
that's a whole different system. This is just for the
short term rentals for less than thirty days. You register
with the City of Houston, and there are a few
things like, you know, keeping emergency contact information so the
(02:02):
owner can be contacted if something happens and HPD needs
to get a hold of them. And so basically you
register with the City of Houston and if there's any issues,
the City of Houston can intervene at that point. So
we know where the operators are and what's happening.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay, And how would the police department go about intervening
somebody's having a party at a house that's being rented.
You have the information of who the owner of the
home is, You contact that person and then ask them
to do what to remove the people?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean it could be a number of things.
It also allows the platforms to know who's renting out
their homes to people. And if there's two complaints, you know,
whether it's HPD or other issues that they've had with
the City of Houston within a twelve month period, the
(02:55):
City of Houston can actually revoke their license to be
a short term rental operator.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
All right, And if the police department runs into a
home that does not have the proper registration that they're
having a party, what happens to the people who own
that home at that point? How do you go about
trying to punish them for not having the proper permits
and not conducting themselves the way they should.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So there can be citations of one hundred to five
hundred dollars a day if they are not in compliance
with the City of Houston ordinance. If they do have
the registration and there are two or more violations of
the ordinance within a year, then their certificate can be
revoked and the City of Houston can notify the platform
that they're on to take them off to the platform.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay. So the bottom line here is is that you
try to make sure that if they're not properly registered,
they cannot advertise this home for rent that is correct. Okay,
and it goes into effects starting on Thursday. If you
had people start to register already. What's the response been
from the community so far?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
The community is excited about this. We've had a lot
of party homes that people have been dealing with, unfortunately
for a very long time, consistently, and so this is
giving people hope that we can start to crack down
on these party homes. And I'm happy for the people
who you know, are finally getting a resolution to this problem.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
All right, Amy, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Amy
pac Houston City Council. It's five fifty six
Yeah, that might be part of what the city is
participating in a short term rental ordinance five point fifty two.
Our time here in Houston this morning news. Amy Peck
is with us Houston City Council member. I don't know
if you supported this measure or not, Amy, but tell
me what the rationale is behind it.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, thank you for having me. Good morning. Yeah, so
I supported this ordinance. We've heard from people over the
years about party homes, where people rent out their homes
to people having parties and causing issues in their neighborhood.
And before this ordinance, we really didn't have a mechanism
(00:36):
to make people stop doing that. So this ensures that
we didn't have too big of a burden for all
of the great operators out there, but also to have
a mechanism to shut down these party homes.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, there is a two hundred and seventy five dollars fee.
I don't know if that's a burden to some. I
guess maybe to a few it might be considered a
bit of a burden. And of course it brings about
the question, especially with some of the World Cup events
and other things are be coming into the city. This
is this a revenue grab by the city to try
to help the budget.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
No, this is something that we have been working on
for many, many years to ensure that we can crack
down on these party homes. So the fee that operators
will pay will really just pay for the operation of
this program. It's not generating revenue on top of that.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Okay, go through it with us. How this works. How
do you go about registering? What are some of the
other hoops you have to jump through another in order
to be able to be operating legally with the short
term rental and that's anything less than thirty days the
way I understand.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It, Yes, if it's if it's less than thirty days,
that means that you are not a hotel, and so
that's a whole different system. This is just for the
short term rentals for less than thirty days. You register
with the City of Houston, and there are a few
things like, you know, keeping emergency contact information so the
(02:02):
owner can be contacted if something happens and HPD needs
to get a hold of them. And so basically you
register with the City of Houston and if there's any issues,
the City of Houston can intervene at that point. So
we know where the operators are and what's happening.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay, And how would the police department go about intervening
somebody's having a party at a house that's being rented.
You have the information of who the owner of the
home is, You contact that person and then ask them
to do what to remove the people?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean it could be a number of things.
It also allows the platforms to know who's renting out
their homes to people. And if there's two complaints, you know,
whether it's HPD or other issues that they've had with
the City of Houston within a twelve month period, the
(02:55):
City of Houston can actually revoke their license to be
a short term rental operator.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
All right, And if the police department runs into a
home that does not have the proper registration that they're
having a party, what happens to the people who own
that home at that point? How do you go about
trying to punish them for not having the proper permits
and not conducting themselves the way they should.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So there can be citations of one hundred to five
hundred dollars a day if they are not in compliance
with the City of Houston ordinance. If they do have
the registration and there are two or more violations of
the ordinance within a year, then their certificate can be
revoked and the City of Houston can notify the platform
that they're on to take them off to the platform.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay. So the bottom line here is is that you
try to make sure that if they're not properly registered,
they cannot advertise this home for rent that is correct. Okay,
and it goes into effects starting on Thursday. If you
had people start to register already. What's the response been
from the community so far?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
The community is excited about this. We've had a lot
of party homes that people have been dealing with, unfortunately
for a very long time, consistently, and so this is
giving people hope that we can start to crack down
on these party homes. And I'm happy for the people
who you know, are finally getting a resolution to this problem.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
All right, Amy, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Amy
pac Houston City Council. It's five fifty six
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