The Danny Compromise: How to solve the STVR problem in San Diego

DEAR FRIENDS,

I have been hearing many fellow San Diegans complain about short term vacation rentals. As you may know, there have even been attempts at banning them or at the very least restricting them.

The main complaint from San Diego neighbors is the noise and trash left behind by short term renters. I understand why many in San Diego would be angry at having to put up with noise and trash. Since there are thousands of STVRs in San Diego, it’s impossible for the local police to intervene in every single case.

As Democratic Candidate for City Council District 2, I have a proposal to solve the problem with Short Term Vacation Rentals. I call it The Danny Compromise.

At the core, the problem with noise and trash is the fact that some (not all) short term renters know they won’t be punished because, in the end, they will only stay a few days in San Diego. Landlords can’t do anything about it, other than giving the renters bad reviews, because landlords have no way of knowing if the renter will be noisy or if the renter will leave trash. And since the renter may not even be in San Diego if there’s a police report, punishing the renter may become impossible.

Until now.

What I propose as City Council member is to personally introduce a new set of laws to directly punish short term renters who violate city ordinances. It would work like this:

1. Short Term Vacation Rental websites such as AirBnB will be required to get renters to agree to pay a severe fine if they are caught violating city ordinances. The agreement will be presented to the renter before renting and the fine will be sufficiently high to truly make the renter think twice before violating city ordinances.

2. If the neighbors complain to the police, and present evidence proving the renter was noisy at night or left trash, the city of San Diego will require AirBnB to collect the fine directly to the renter’s credit card. This is doable because AirBnB already collects taxes for the city of San Diego from the renters.

3. If the renter is fined twice for violating city ordinances, that is, in two separate rentals, AirBnB will ban the user from renting STVRs in San Diego permanently.

In other words, this is a compromise between the City of San Diego and the short term vacation rental industry to help stop rowdy renters and give San Diego neighbors peace of mind.

The Danny Compromise will work far better than simply prohibiting STVRs. We can’t prohibit the sharing economy. It would be like trying to ban email because it is affecting the US Postal Service. But we can be smart about it and pass laws designed to resolve the problems created by STVRs at the true core of the issue.

I know what some of you may be thinking: “but STVRs are increasing rents in San Diego. We must stop them.” As it happens, I also have a solution to that problem. It’s called The Danny Rule, and it would lower and freeze rents for five years in exchange for a tax credit for landlords who voluntarily reduce and freeze their rents. You can read all about it in this post.

I do not believe in prohibitions. One of my opponents is pushing prohibitions because that’s the easy way to pander to people. But it won’t solve anything and it will hurt people who have complementary income from STVRs. The Danny Compromise allows the STVR industry to continue operating in San Diego, but with clear and tough rules to stop noise and trash.

We can change San Diego together. This is my proposal. But I would love to hear what would be your proposals and concerns for San Diego. Send me an email and let me know. Together we can find a solution.

If you agree with my proposal and want to spread the word, forward this blog to all your contacts. You can also donate to my campaign using the following link: https://secure.anedot.com/smiechowski2018/donate

Here's a graphic explaining how the Danny Compromise will work: