Each weekend this summer, thousands of Americans will host a backyard barbeque. They will invite friends, family, and co-workers to enjoy the weather, pleasant company, and grilled meat. Most of these gatherings will bother nobody. But a few may last late into the night, with music and loud talking disrupting the neighborhood. In many situations, people will call the police to stop the rowdy activities.
But what if, instead of calling the police, the following week neighbors descended on City Hall and demanded that backyard barbeques be regulated or even banned? What if those regulations required anyone hosting a backyard cookout to first obtain a permit from the city, and then the host must submit to whatever rules and regulations the city deemed appropriate? Would this be fair to the vast majority of people who host a quiet gathering of friends in their back yard?
In principle, this is what cities across Texas and the nation seek to do to the owners of short-term rentals (STRs). Because a few STRs turn into “party houses” and disrupt the neighborhood, a growing number of cities want to regulate STRs. They want to subject all STR owners to controls and restrictions because a few are inconsiderate and flaunt nuisance laws.
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