A Gilbert couple who owns property in the Village of Oak Creek goes before an administrative law judge Friday, July 10, to defend their practice of renting their two-bedroom home for fewer than 30 days.
Mark and Debra Betts said they regularly rent their 2,100 square-foot home to vacationers, sometimes earning as much as $4,000 a month from the business. Mark Betts said he pays all taxes related to the business, including the same lodging tax Yavapai County imposes on resorts and hotels.
The Betts case is one of four currently pending before the judge, according to Boyce Macdonald, Yavapai County Land Use Unit senior land use specialist.
Renting residential property for fewer than 30 days violates Yavapai County land use laws. Fines of up to $750 per day can be imposed for each violation, Macdonald said.
Betts said he and his wife purchased the house on Fairway Oaks Drive in 2006 for the express purpose of renting to vacationers.
Eventually, he and his wife plan to live there after retirement, but until then, they need the income from short-term rentals to cover the costs of owning the home and to supplement their income, he said.
“It’s an absolutely stunning home,” Betts said. “The phone’s ringing off the hook. It’s a very popular place.”
Betts maintains a Web site that features numerous photos of the interior and the exterior of the house, lists rates, and allows visitors to check availability.
According to the Web site, the home is rented for two week-long periods this month, 12 days in August, 10 days in September and all but five days in October. In each case, the rental period is fewer than 30 days, a Yavapai County land use violation.
Based on Web site advertising, more than 165 properties are suspected of being in violation of the short-term rental law, 65 of those in District 1, which includes Cornville, Page Springs, Rim Rock, and unincorporated areas commonly referred to as Greater Sedona, including the Village of Oak Creek, Macdonald said.
Renting property for periods of less than 30 days in areas zoned residential is also a violation of Village of Oakcreek Assocation rules and regulations, according to Bob Powers, VOCA property inspector.
The Betts’ rental property drew complaints from VOCA neighbors starting in June of 2008, Powers wrote in a letter to Betts dated June 20, 2008.
“Short-term rentals affect residential areas in many ways, detracting from the feeling of community and preventing the relationships that grow between groups of friends living together as part of a neighborhood,” Powers wrote.
The letter directed Betts to fill out a Rental Certification form, sign it before a notary, and return it to VOCA within 15 days.
Betts said he never got the June 20 letter, nor did he receive a follow-up letter from Powers dated Jan. 29.
An April 7 letter from Powers notifying Betts that VOCA complaints about his rental business had been referred to Yavapai County was received, however, Betts said.
In such cases, Powers said VOCA verifies the complaint as valid, usually through on-site interviews and observations. If the information gathered tends to confirm the violation, a complaint is forwarded to Yavapai County for further investigation, but only after the property owner fails or refuses to stop.
From there, the county undertakes its own investigation. If a county investigator confirms the complaint, a notice of violation goes out, summoning the property owner to an administrative hearing, Macdonald said.
VOCA and the county have collaborated to enforce the short-term rental laws for years, Macdonald said. He declined comment on the Betts case.
The county’s notice of violation went to Betts sometime around June 1, county records show. That’s when the couple hired a lawyer, Betts said.
The Betts’ attorney argued the county’s notice of violation was defective because it failed to identify the proper land use law. The attorney further argued the county’s administrative process violated the U.S. Constitution. The county’s decision to issue the notice of violation amounted to “malicious prosecution,” the attorney
argued.
The Betts have since dismissed their lawyer and plan to represent themselves at the July 10 hearing. It could be tough going.
E-mail from Powers to Yavapai County Zoning Inspector Jeanne Grossmayer dated June 17 states Powers interviewed a guest at the Betts’ home who confirmed he was renting the house for one week. Grossmayer interviewed the guest later the same day and confirmed the one-week rental, a subsequent e-mail reported.
Betts characterized the interviews as “harassment.”
“There are a number of homeowners that we communicate with, that rent on the golf course and have never been notified of a violation,” he said.
Major Web sites such as Homeaway.com advertise as many as 50 rentals listed by the night and weekly in the Village of Oak Creek, he said.
Betts said he and his wife spent $5,000 in attorneys’ fees so far to defend the case. If the administrative law judge rules against Betts July 10, he and his wife could face hundreds, even thousands, of dollars more in fines.
Macdonald said fines for violating the ordinance accumulate by the day. A property in Cornville sanctioned by the county earlier this year, for example, has been in violation for several months and has accrued $10,000 in fines so far, he said.
