Commentary: Live and let Airbnb

The use of the home sharing site Airbnb site been exponentially growing year after year, despite the backlash that has occurred from both the neighbors of places being rented out short-term and the local governments.

With stricter laws being put in place to limit the ability to rent places short-term, as well as neighbors banding together to form groups to oppose the use of Airbnb in their neighborhood, the chance for someone to make a little extra money every month has been too tempting to stop the increase of people putting their homes up for rent on the site.

I say that the local government should not have the ability to prevent someone from renting their property if they want to, and neighbors should not concern themselves with the actions of their neighbors, as long as it is not causing true detriment to the whole neighborhood for an extended amount of time.

Currently the neighbors of those who short-term rent bring up the issues that the tenants will be taking up the limited parking spots, being loud into the night and not following the rules given for the neighborhood. These are valid points that can easily be shown to not be a problem, however.

The owner of the house, if he/she had actually lived in their house, would be taking up a parking spot, as is. Why should they concern themselves with whose car it is, whether it’s the house owner’s or renter’s, when the house should be granted at least one, if not two, parking spots on the street?

There are many stories of people renting a place on Airbnb just to throw a party, so as to not have to worry about the damage that could be caused to their own personal property.

More common complaints made are that the temporary tenants will be up late into the night, enjoying their vacation time. If the noise is too much, and is rather excessive, then you have the right to contact the police and they will deal with the problem. If it is just general noise that any neighbor could make, then it is not the neighbors’ right to have the renters quiet down.

Another wide complaint is that the renters do not follow rules and disrupt a community. This is a concern for the houses rented out in higher-end communities that have certain expectations for how their neighbors would act.

Luckily, most Airbnb users are people on vacation and will not be spending much time around the house they are renting. The renting is for short amounts of time, say from two to seven days, so if a particular group is troublesome, have comfort in that they will be gone soon.

For the troublesome guests staying only a couple of days, the owner should be very strict in what they allow to happen at the house, and if complaints are made by neighbors then the owner should not let those guests stay any longer. If there is good communication between the neighbors, house owner and renters, I believe Airbnb could be a good thing for communities that allow for diversity and change.

Locally, here in Laguna Beach, they have decided to limit permits needed if you want to be allowed to do short-term lodging.

This is a good median that allows people to offer their extra rooms for rent, making extra cash for the ever-increasing costs of rent and house mortgages while still letting the local government have control to make sure negligence or malpractice does not occur between the renter and home owner.

ANTHONY LARSEN lives in Laguna Beach.