Regulating short-term rentals: 2 bills being discussed by Arizona lawmakers

PHOENIX - Dozens gathered outside the capitol Thursday morning to protest two separate bi-partisan bills that would change the way short-term rentals operate in our state.

"I'd have to sell my house and I'd be shoveling snow right now," Chuck Knowles said.

Knowles uses Airbnb to rent out his Phoenix home for half of the year, but he says if SB 1554 passes, it would only allow him to rent his home out once in a 30-day period, and he wouldn't be able to afford to keep it.

Another bill, HB 2875, would add more regulation to short-term rentals by making the owner meet every renter and require contact information for the owner to be posted outside the rental. Noise-monitoring equipment would also have to be installed.

"I just hope a compromise is made before all of our communities are completely changed," Kate Bauer said.

Bauer is with Take Action Phoenix, a coalition of neighborhoods. She agrees with the proposed bills.

"You have an expectation that there will be somebody permanently living in that home, it's the unease of a transient population coming into your block," she said. "You think you know your neighbors -- you don't really know your neighbors."

However, many want to come to a happy medium, like Toby Tibbet who has operated as an Airbnb super host for four years in Old Town Scottsdale.

"I'm coming here to be a better-informed renter and owner, so if we put our heads together, I think we can find a viable solution for all the concerns that are on the table today," he said.

MORE:

Short term rentals may soon be a thing of the past -- at least in Tempe

Housing Woes: Downtown Phoenix apartment building becoming short-term rentals

Tempe man's house subject of rental nightmare after partygoers trash house