Judge blocks Dallas from banning short-term rentals
A Dallas County judge says Dallas can’t start enforcing new regulations that would ban short-term rental properties from single-family zoned areas because they infringe on property owners’ rights and are an example of government overreach.
District Court Judge Monica Purdy on Wednesday signed a temporary injunction order saying a group of STR operators suing the city over the new rules had proven that they would likely prevail on their assertions that the new city regulations are unconstitutional.
“Unless the city is enjoined from enforcing the STR ordinances, there is a substantial risk of probable, imminent and irreparable injuries to plaintiffs because plaintiffs, and the vast majority of other STR owners in Dallas, will immediately lose the ability to lease their property for less than 30 days,” Purdy’s order said.
The city planned to start enforcing the zoning change Dec. 13, the order said. The judge set a nonjury trial for June 3, 2024, for the ongoing lawsuit.
The ruling in North Texas comes two days after multiple homeowners in Hollywood Park filed a federal lawsuit challenging a ban on short-term rental housing in the north Bexar County municipality that took effect Nov. 14.
The Hollywood Park plaintiffs say the new ordinance — which bans rentals of residential property for less than 30 consecutive days and involves penalties of up to $2,000 a day — violates the Texas and U.S. Constitutions. The homeowners
are seeking a preliminary injunction forbidding Hollywood Park, a city of about 3,100 people, from enforcing the law while their case proceeds.
“Enforcement of shortterm rental bans is inherently and inescapably Orwellian and inconsistent with basic human liberties,” a court document in that case says.
The nonprofit Dallas Short-term Rental Alliance and four operators, who list their properties on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, sued the city on Oct. 2 arguing the new regulations were unconstitutional and alleged other violations, including that they illegally discriminate against STR owners and operators.
City attorneys asking Purdy to deny the temporary injunction request said blocking the new rules would stop Dallas from “advancing its legitimate and compelling governmental interests.”
“Plaintiffs freely admit that their STRS are businesses that they operate in residentially-zoned neighborhoods,” the city’s response said. “But plaintiffs are not just operating such businesses out of their homes — the homes are the businesses.”
Lisa Sievers, a Dallas Short-term Rental Alliance
board member, said her group is happy with the judge’s order that STRS will be allowed to keep operating in residential neighborhoods for now.
“As we’ve stated many times, we stand ready to come to the table with the city to discuss fair and sensible regulations that rein in the few bad apples and allow the rest of us to continue to operate,” said Sievers, who is also an STR operator,
An analysis of city data by The Dallas Morning News in July showed at least 48% of the city’s more than 1,900 registered STR operators would have to shut down due to zoning and code changes. City officials estimated more than 5,000 STRS operate in Dallas.
Jennifer Brown, a Dallas spokeswoman, said the city is considering its options on appealing the temporary injunction.
“In the meantime, the city will continue enforcement of its existing ordinances governing minimum property standards, disturbing noises, and private nuisances,” she said.
The City Council in June approved changing zoning rules to ban shortterm rentals from operating in single-family neighborhoods, allow only one rental in a single unit, and require off-street parking. The council also greenlit changing city code to make it mandatory for properties to annually register with the city, pay related fees and taxes, adhere to occupancy and noise limits, have someone on file who can respond to the property within one hour to address any emergency concerns, and other new rules.
The stricter regulations in Dallas came after debate since at least 2020 on how the city should regulate short-term rentals. Residents have complained for years about the lack of city intervention to address the spread of the rentals in neighborhoods mostly made up of single-family homes and some of the properties being linked to gun violence, trash, noise and other quality of life concerns.
Many Dallas shortterm rental property owners and hosts, however, said they favored more city regulations but rejected being banned from residential areas. They said they were concerned the new rules would be too heavy-handed, and would mostly impact operators who have no complaints and use the platforms as a source of income.
The city previously had no rules in place to penalize bad operators. Property owners were supposed to register with the city, but there were no consequences for not doing so. The owners were required to collect taxes from their guests, report monthly and pay the tax to the city.
Purdy in her order disagreed that the new city rules could properly solve issues caused by city rule violators.
“The right to conduct STR activity is a vested right in Texas that is a component of home ownership,” Purdy’s order said. “It appears likely that the city cannot show that the STR ordinances are rationally related to deterring nuisances, and in any event, nuisance ordinances that already exist in the Dallas city code could be enforced to prevent any nuisance violation.”