All Forum Posts by: Seth Kristian

It certainly begs the question doesnt it? likely begs a lot of questions, but most definitely property rights, designations, city statutes compliance with state law, etc. I, like many if not most homeowners in denver that participate in hosting with Airbnb do NOT live in a covenant controlled area, nor HOA. However, if the city invents new statues which circumvent historically recognized property rights, does it not then become a de facto HOA over the city? it's unbelievable that you would be facing a felony (and many others now) because why, exactly? If you cannot rent out something on the same property 100 feet away it strikes me as something much deeper in the works, and especially now. Who is it that owns the property, what exactly is a primary residence and for what purpose is that defined? What is real property vs real estate, deed, simple fee or allodial interest in real property and how are homeowners having the wool pulled over their eyes. That's all rhetorical of course, but what role is Airbnb playing in all this? What effect do major hoteliers or lobbyists actually having over a decade later? I feel Ike they pivoted quite a bit in the last few years since city and subsequent county license requirements spurred an STR plateau and the motivations are a bit deeper and multi-purposed now.

Take parallel economies, such as Uber/Lyft, the ONLY two TNC license holders in the state and each year pay an excise tax of a few hundred thousand a piece, if not more (just for the permit, not including the whats taken from drivers). Those companies are similar to Airbnb in the sense that individuals working with them is at their pleasure, availing chattel property for commercial purposes. Nothing is different with Airbnb other than those hosting avail privately owned real estate for commercial purposes and only here its at the hosts' personal expense to acquire the license and pay the tax. You'd think of all the bought off suits they would propose a bill for Airbnbs liability as an "umbrella" STR license and hosts would have an apportioned amount withheld through individual earnings to operate under that license.

Anyhow, ill stop babbling but this seems like a class action to me and for anyone and everyone denied licenses, those with current license and anyone who’s lost income from this. I dont believe the city should even have the authority to require a license, and nothing says “it ain’t your house if you have a license” and something fishy is going on here

Similarly, mine expired Dec 8th, so i always pay before on the 7th at the latest. Did the same last year, only i hadn’t heard back from the city until July ‘23 with a denial. Feb ‘23 Airbnb froze my calendar for anything under 29 days, completely wiping out that income and now the city (6 months later with no communication) is forcing me to defend a license ive had for years because i had my mail forwarded to a friends house for one month back in 2020 after the mail carrier stopped delivering on my street because of a dog. Its the city, and they know damn well why the mail for wad forwarded, when and for how long. Then they say i stopped receiving mail in Dec 22 altogether (never an address where i forwarded to this time) and didnt flinch when i sent them a stack of mail i had received that very day when filing for appeal. The city is out for licenses, so i wouldnt buy some nonsense story over technical errors or software glitches. Im hearing the most ridiculous **** from hosts receiving a litany of wild stories, all of which conveniently end with homeowners and hosts having to jump through hoops to keep a license to rent what is supposed to be private property 

Ive been hosting my primary residence in Denver for years without incident, and each year renew license etc without no issues outside of the standard bureaucratic headaches. Last Dec was no different, i send in the money for the license, fill out info and expect a reply shortly thereafter. Jan, Feb go by and no reply but airbnb had froze my calendar for STR availability (only open for > 29 days . Then Mar, Apr im making more attempts to figure this out with no reply from excise and license. First week of July i get an email, stating Denver denied my license. I appealed and set a hearing for August. Denver's state cause that its not my primary address because of a second address i had mail forwarded to back in Dec 2020, for one month. A mail carrier had been bitten by a dog on my street and 2 weeks had gone by with no one receiving mail. I wasnt sure what happened so i called the post office, they informed me of the details so i had my mail forwarded to a friends house in Lakewood. When i realized how long that process takes i had filled out another form within a month to cancel so mail would resume at my primary address. I provided evidence in my reply to no avail and the city wants to go forward with my hearing. I want to ask if anyone has had any similar experience with Denver or any other location insofar as STR licenses are concerned, and the city forcing you to defend your right to rent. Thanks, and any insight, advice would be most appreciated!

 typically that's correct, the issue is that the issues were reported long before a notice of early termination and since the response was to terminate early in lieu of repairs it could fall into a warrant of habitability issue and considered retaliatory. Theyre happy to move but they're trying to find out whether they should raise that claim and demand the landlord cover relocation costs. They have consultations setup with a couple attorneys this week so hopefully that will shed some more light on their options. I think they're a little too worried about confrontation and don't like to burn bridges unless necessary 

agreed, but can vary depending on the property. a 3bd2ba with all king beds and a listing that sleeps 3 and up to 6 might seem a bit confusing to what may have originally been a larger group. I do agree with your point though. If i can host up to 8, i will cap it at 6 with an extra guest charge per night and up to 8. Honestly I have to say its worked great, and its very rare that i have issues with guests at all beyond the not-so-smart guests vs: the inner complexities of modern television and those darn remotes. I cant even remember the last time I’ve had “extra” guests. 

A funny anecdote within the spirit of the popular aphorism, that “less is more”: It might seem counter intuitive as a host that sees a larger number believing it could equal more (income) or as a guest to think (less money per person), but both are likely agree that just because 2 people can fit on a moped, (hell ya) it doesn’t make for a comfortable ride at twice the gas

Just a thought… because it sounds like you might be managing it yourself and more like a condo, where less people, same day turnovers and higher occupancy is easier to achieve.. Not sure of the nightly where you are versus your overhead but think about the various  suggestions folks have added maybe a bump in the nightly rate and placing 24 hour blocks before and after each guest so enough time is provided for cleaning and thorough walk through. The higher price to make up for the time block before and after. If you’re not already using a 3rd party for market data and pricing try www.usewheelhouse.com or www.beyondpricing.com www.airdna.co 

 I wish i had a brief answer for that. The market is absolutely crazy and will be getting worse here in the next few months. They JUST went through the moving process last summer and from what i gather were willing to do it again, provided they find another house. Im not understanding how any of that has to do with the law insofar as no-fault termination of a lease without signatures from all parties to the lease. 

The house actually looks nice on the inside and a vast majority of the issues wouldn’t have revealed themselves to anyone outright. The house had been occupied by a family of 8 ppl at the time they toured it. It’s a 2bd 2 ba btw… The mice are in the walls and floors, the deck isn’t even something on a tenants punch list when moving in, however they did notice first day and notified the owner. Leaking pipes in the walls were covered up, they couldn’t tell the hvac didn’t feed the downstairs until they realized the registers on the walls didn’t actually lead anywhere. They’re fake. and it was summer when they moved in and had no way to tell it would be in the single digits downstairs, esp after the walls units stopped working. They want to leave and were planning on it in July, hoping that was enough time to find a new place. Now they have a month  and a kid in school..  I’m trying to find more legal insight into the problem but thank you for the reply!

 Thanks Theresa, so I should’ve had more details but its not that the owners want to move back, its that they dont want to fix the issues with the house. They actually live in Durango and have no plans to move back, but want to terminate the lease in lieu of holding up to their responsibilities per the lease, and any other lease I’ve ever been party to. This was a preemptive attempt to send notice before they filed a warranty of habitability notice against them. Which to my understanding they never even mentioned so is just speculation on my part. Also do you know where the one month of rent is cited in the Colorado statutes by chance? I had seen something similar as far as landlords paying damages to tenants for an unlawful or retaliatory termination of the lease. I thought these were state laws as well, not subject to local differences i.e., county by county. Thanks Theresa!