Texas property owners have formed Texans for Property and Rental Rights, a coalition of homeowners, property rights advocates, local businesses and trade associations committed to a strong and vibrant Texas economy.
Leaders from the group today released an open letter (http://bit.ly/TPRRLetter ) to lawmakers urging passage of legislation – Senate Bill 1888 by Sen. Pat Fallon and House Bill 3778 by Rep. Angie Chen Button – that would provide a statewide framework for short-term rentals in Texas.
This statewide framework would maintain a city’s authority to regulate in a manner that makes sense for their communities, but provides guardrails to protect private property rights, reduce costly litigation and maintain the character of our communities, coalition leaders said.
“House Bill 3778 and Senate Bill 1888 will help ensure that local governments will be able to control for any potential nuisance issues such as noise, parking and number of renters occupying the property – just as they can with long-term residences,” state Rep. Angie Chen Button of Garland. “The bills also would preserve a local governments’ ability to revoke a vacation rental permit if persistent violations occurred, and aggressively enforce against bad actors.”
Texans for Property and Rental Rights noted that the current climate in Texas with a growing number of municipalities creating a patchwork of regulations could result in less tax revenue for local governments and the state, while severely limiting a city’s ability to identify and address violators.
“Many Texas cities have chosen to enact harmful, constitutionally questionable, and largely ineffective ordinances to restrict or outright prohibit homeowners from renting their homes on a short-term basis,” said Jeff Means, a Canyon, Texas vacation rental operator and Chairman of Texans for Property and Rental Rights. “House Bill 3778 and Senate Bill 1888 aim to address these concerns in a balanced way that respects local control and private property rights.”
“Short-term rentals encourage entrepreneurship, contribute mightily to local and state tax revenue, support tens of thousands of jobs and drive visitor spending to local small businesses,” said Joel Rasmussen, President of the Austin Rental Alliance, a coalition supporter. “Vacation rentals are a vibrant and essential part of the Texas landscape. With their increased popularity, homeowners, renters and neighbors need and deserve the certainty that comes from a statewide regulatory framework that would maintain a city’s authority to regulate but provides guardrails that help guide local decision making to protect private property rights, reduce costly litigation and maintain the character of our communities. We call on Texas lawmakers to act swiftly in affirming the private property rights of all Texans.”
