Houston Mayor: Short-term rentals should be considered hotels

Parties, drug use and lewd acts at short-term rentals are plaguing some upscale Houston neighborhoods, and Mayor John Whitmire is taking a stand against them.

Whitmire is working with the city attorney to classify short-term rentals as hotels, KHOU reported. That would put short-term rentals under a different set of rules and tax codes.

“The pictures I saw of nudity, alcohol, drugs are really in many locations across Houston,” Whitmire told the outlet. “The Museum District, the Galleria.”

Three units in a townhome complex near Tanglewood were converted to short-term rentals a few years ago, and residents say cars are constantly blocking their driveways. There are loud parties that go on for days, and sometimes there is gunfire. And then there are the lewd acts. Guests of a short-term rental were caught on video having sex on a balcony, in full view of neighbors, the outlet previously reported.

While passing city ordinances to restrict short-term rentals could help eventually, neighbors say they need help immediately.

“None of us feel safe anymore,” said Nancy Rutherford, who lives in the Tanglewood area townhomes. “It’s only a matter of time until somebody gets killed. What is HPD doing? I don’t know. I would like to know what HPD is doing.”

Several Texas municipalities have adopted ordinances that aim to stem short-term rental abuses. Ordinances restricting short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods in Dallas have been hamstrung by a temporary injunction. 

A proposal in last year’s Texas Legislature sought to circumvent local ordinances and allow short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO anywhere in Texas, but that bill was left in committee. 

Whitmire said a few landlords are causing a lot of problems with short-term rentals.

“You see something like this that completely disrupts communities and it’s only really being conducted by a handful of repeat offenders and some of the operators have numerous sites,” he said. “I mean it’s actually a business of short-term rentals, and they have total disregard for the neighborhood conditions or quality of life issues.”