According to coverage from the Orange County Register, owners of the 383 permitted short-term rentals in the city will have to shut down within the next 18 months. Anaheim began limiting short-term rentals two years ago, requiring a registration fee and payment of the city's 15 percent hotel tax. Last year, the city capped the number of permits available to short-term rentals.
But that was not enough to satisfy local residents, who complained that many of the short-term rentals effectively were operating as hotels in residential neighborhoods. After also considering additional restrictions on the rentals, the city council voted last night for the ban.
The decision means that out-of-town visitors to the Disneyland Resort will either have to choose from among the many hotels in the area, or opt for a short-term rental farther from the parks, in another, nearby city. Hotels already offered the advantage of proximity to the Disneyland theme parks — dozens of hotels are located within walking distance of the front gates, while almost all short-term rentals were significantly farther away. But homes rented through Airbnb and VRBO typically offered more space at relatively lower prices, making them a potentially attractive alternative for larger families and groups.
The ban not only will help keep those visitors out of the city's residential areas, it should dissuade investors who have been driving up the price of homes in the city by buying houses to convert them into Airbnb rentals. But by limiting the options for tourists, it might also help drive up the price of hotel rooms in the city, assuming that other investors don't then switch to building more hotel inventory.
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I have no problem with bone-fide "sharing", like renting a spare room short term; but if you're renting a whole place, that's not sharing, that's a hotel.
What happened was the problem became present enough to be on more peoples mind. It was a problem before, and that hasn't changed.
Anon- People do crazy things inside the AirBNBs, but the thing is that if the home owner is uncomfortable with that behavior, they can simply not rent out for AirBNB. If someone is OK with their guests doing things like filming adult films or trashing the place, then the home owner should be allowed to rent out there place. If they are not comfortable with that behavior, then the home owner can simply not rent out their house on AirBNB.
Chad- Yes there could be parties, but there can also be parties regardless of whether the house is being rented out or not. For instance, how is having a next door neighbor who always rents out to people who throw parties different from having a next door neighbor who doesn't rent out but parties?
In my opinion, this is another example of a business manipulating to get what's in their best interest. If a neighborhood has a problem with AirBNB, that neighborhood can do something about it, such as banning AirBNB in that neighborhood. However, if people don't have a problem with it, what's the big deal?
The thing that angers me the most about this is that it eliminates competition. If the city had chosen instead to embrace AirBNB, people would've been using AirBNB instead of Disney hotels, and therefore Disney hotels would have to lower prices. Now, Disney can keep raising their prices, as they have eliminated their competition through government. In addition, this will probably eliminate a lot of people's income, which is pretty bad too.
So at the end of the day, Disney hotels are more expensive and jobs are lost. Wow.
Then again, Walt Disney was never really too thrilled with the hotels around his Disneyland. It shouldn't really surprise anybody.
The difference is the scale. A person who owns their own home will likely only have a few. A place that is purely to rent out is more likely to have more. Evidently this is the case as the increase in noise, traffic, anti social behaviour, and other effects are the reason why residents push their representatives to push this legislation.
Next January our family are staying in Anaheim at an airBnB across the road from the Disney carpark. For If idiots are throwing parties all night, whether they're renting or not, call the cops!
It's a lot easier to be profitable when you don't adhere to the laws that your competitors must follow. When you rent out an entire house/condo, you're not sharing...you're running a short-term lodging company.
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