Shelter-in-place orders have become the new normal as officials try to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom also ordered nonessential businesses to close. That included short-term rentals.
But what has that meant for the short-term rental market? Companies like Airbnb, VRBO and FlipKey have made it possible for homes to become, in essence, small hotels scattered throughout neighborhoods everywhere — especially tourist destinations like Lake Tahoe.
Dana Leonard has been living between Tahoe City and Carnelian Bay for about 40 years. She’s concerned that the properties people rent online could be a source of transmission in her community.
Here’s what we found.
Short Term Rentals Deemed Nonessential
Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson represents the district where Leonard lives.
Gustafson says according to Newsom’s order, vacation rentals are considered nonessential. Placer County county officials also implemented their own temporary ban on short-term rentals in response to the coronavirus.
So far, she says, people have been pretty good about complying with the new rules.
“We’ve only seen about 3% of the total short-term rentals available being used at all,” she said. “Of those that we’ve investigated, over half have been the owners coming up to either close-down or secure their properties and we have warned and started citations on the others.”
Gustafson added there are exceptions if the person renting the space is an essential worker, like a nurse.
Another complication for destination communities around Lake Tahoe is the high number of second homes that are owned by out-of-towners. According to Kim Szczurek, Administrative Services Director for the town of Truckee, that’s been creating some confusion among full-time residents.
The majority of homeowners in some Tahoe Basin counties were non-resident second home owners in 2017, according to data from the Placer, Douglas, Washoe and El Dorado County Assessor’s Offices and the Tahoe Prosperity Center. In part of the Tahoe Basin that sits in Placer County, 93 percent of homeowners were second home owners that year.
This map is based off of areas of Placer, El Dorado, Douglas and Washoe counties determined to be part of the Lake Tahoe Basin by the Tahoe Prosperity Center. Our data is from the four counties' assessors' offices, as provided to us by the Tahoe Prosperity Center.
“Half of our overall houses in the town of Truckee are owned by folks who do not live here full time,” she said. “It does appear that some folks feel that this is their desired place to be during this time."
“Unlike other counties, our county health officer has not made any prohibitions on doing that, nor has the governor of the state,” Szczurek said.
Checking Up On Check-Ins
So how are officials keeping track of who’s complying with the ban and who’s not?
Most of the communities near Lake Tahoe work with Host Compliance, which cross-references permits for short term rentals with properties listed on rental sites to make sure they’re following the rules.
The company’s founder, Ulrik Binzer, says they’ve been tracking how many short-term rentals are following the emergency orders. But so far, they don’t have a clear sense of how the industry is responding overall.
“It’s hard to conclude right now, based on the data, whether or not people are broadly complying,” he said.
That’s because many hosts are keeping their listings active, with the calendars showing properties as available despite the ban. They can still deny a booking request to comply with state and local orders, however. And Binzer adds that some hosts have gone the extra mile to ensure they’re in compliance.
“We do know for sure that 27% have essentially eliminated the ability to even inquire about bookings in the next three months.”
Mixed Messaging
Among the platforms themselves, the response to emergency orders varies.
Airbnb seems to have the most visible messaging on their site. But all of the platforms we contacted for this story, including VRBO and FlipKey, have made it easier for people to cancel reservations and get a refund.
Brian Hoyt is Senior Director of Corporate Communications for TripAdvisor, which owns FlipKey. He says the company is reconsidering its cancellation policy to help travelers and hosts affected by the emergency orders.
“We’ve made [the policy] more flexible for consumers who’ve made bookings through the end of the month and we’re obviously looking to adjust that and those refund policies,” he said. “As these stay at home orders continue to progress we’ll continue to evaluate our policies moving forward.”
Hosts can also apply for federal assistance right now, since they’re considered independent contractors. So hopefully, that should remove some of the economic incentives to trying to get around the ban.
Moving Forward
According to Chrissy Earnhardt, Administrative Services Manager for the town of Truckee, it’s difficult to say how long these emergency orders will last.
“The county order does not actually have an end date,” she said. “Our intention is to update those property owners and registered owners with any new information as it comes. But at least for now we’ve asked people to block their calendars through May 23.”
Most of the sources contacted for this story agree that if more STR hosts blocked off their calendars, it could help local residents feel more comfortable. If they go on Airbnb now, for example, they still see available rentals in their neighborhoods. That can be a creepy feeling while the pandemic is still spreading so quickly.
Ulrik Binzer of Host Compliance also thinks the platforms themselves could do more to help residents feel more at ease, while supporting public health and protecting their business at the same time.
“It feels like it would be in the best interest of them to get this virus epidemic over as quickly as possible,” he said. “What they could do, technically, would be to literally block out the calendars for future bookings in all the areas where there are stay at home orders.”
