Call Kurtis: How To Police Noise From Airbnbs
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — When Lisa Haley moved into a Midtown fourplex, she had no idea her property owner planned to turn the neighboring apartment into an Airbnb.
Haley was not pleased.
"There were strangers coming in and out at all times," she said.
Haley says some of the Airbnb guests were rowdy.
"Literally partied their butts off on our front porch in front of our window for four days straight," she recalls.
She says there was a constant rotation of strangers and it was not what she signed up for when leasing the Victorian apartment.
"If I wanted to live in a hotel. I would live in a hotel," said Haley.
With fairly new platforms like Airbnb, comes new tech to the rescue and the brainchild of David Krauss' company Noise-Aware.
Krauss says the majority of short-term rental complaints involve loud guests, which inspired his creation.
"Quite frankly neighbors some of them have had it up to here," said Krauss.
Described as a smoke detector for noise the device connects through Wi-Fi to register the decibels. Additionally, the sound can be monitored in a visual waveform.
If the decibels reach a pre-set level, the owner gets a text and can address the issue before it escalates.
"You're able to respond within minutes, not hours," said Krauss.
He hopes that Noise-Aware can help avoid a party from destroying a place and taking pressure off neighbors to rat on noisy guests.
Krauss insists no conversations are recorded. Only decibel levels.
Haley had enough of her noisy guest's next door. With months after moving in, she broke her lease and moved out.
"It's been so disruptive." That, "I was I like can't do this anymore," she said.
Haley says she's not happy with the Airbnb platform and what it did to her living situation.
"Sorry Airbnb people that invented it, but I'm just not a fan," she said.
Noise-Aware cost ranges from $149 to $399 a year depending on the size of the place, and the number of sensors.
AIRBNB STATEMENT:
"We have suspended this listing while we investigate as we want to do everything we can to help our hosts be good neighbors in the places they call home. Hosting is a big responsibility, and those who repeatedly fail to respond to neighbor or community concerns will be subject to suspension or removal. We recently launched a Neighbor Tool for neighbors of Airbnb hosts so they have somewhere to share specific concerns they might have about a listing in their community." -- Jasmine Mora, Airbnb press secretary.
Tips for Hosts:
Look at your potential guest's reviews to see what previous hosts have thought of your potential guest's behavior
Opt-in to ensure your potential guest provides a government ID
Use the messaging tool to set expectations, make sure your guest understands your house rules, and ask them any questions you may have
The overwhelming majority of Airbnb hosts and guests are good neighbors and respectful travelers, so issues of any kind are incredibly rare, but when they happen, we work to make things right.
MORE CITIES AND COUNTIES ARE REQUIRING SHORT TERM RENTAL PERMITS.
CITY OF SACRAMENTO
https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Finance/Revenue/Short-Term-Vacation-Rentals
SHORT-TERM VACATION RENTAL PERMIT
The City Council established a short-term vacation rental permit on January 19, 2016 (City Code 5.114). All operators of short-term rental property (a stay of 30 days or less) need to apply for either a short-term rental permit or a conditional use permit from Community Development.
SECONDARY RESIDENCE
A short-term vacation rental may operate from a location that is not the operator's primary residence for a total of 90 days in a calendar year. After the operator exceeds 90 days in a calendar year, the conditional use permit process must be started. Until the conditional use permit is applied for, an operator of a short-term rental is required to apply for a short-term rental permit. An annual business tax as a hotel of $50 and collection and remittance of transient occupancy tax of 12% from renters is required of all short-term vacation rental operators.
Short-term Rental Permit Application (this is not required once the conditional use permit is received)
Business Tax Application (or online)
Transient Occupancy Tax
