HOUSTON — KHOU 11 is continuing to follow the short-term rental saga that many neighbors in Houston said has turned their lives into a "living hell."
Houston Mayor John Whitmire spoke exclusively with KHOU 11 News Tuesday and said the city has already started working on it. He said short-term rentals are a priority.
“It has been a living nightmare,” resident Nancy Rutherford said.
Guests at the residential properties turned short-term rentals are seen on video going in and out at all hours of the night, blocking driveways from residents and having sex outdoors.
“Sex party on the balcony, so neighbors can see it,” resident Kathy Yang said. “That is crazy.”
Neighbors have also been hearing gunshots.
“I’m running into so many issues where they’ve been covered up or ignored for years,” Whitmire said. “The short-term rentals are a serious problem, affecting quality of life issues.”
The mayor said he empathizes with the concerns residents shared during last week’s city council meeting.
“The pictures I saw of nudity, alcohol, drugs are really in many locations across Houston,” he said. “The Museum District, the Galleria.”
Residents throughout the city have been complaining about the short-term rentals that have popped up in their neighborhoods for years.
The mayor said the residential properties being rented to guests for the night or the week are actually operating as hotels.
“The previous administration would never declare that it is a hotel, which has regulations that can be enforced,” he said. “So, I’m really ready to get after it.”
The mayor said he’ll be working with the city attorney on this.
He said if short-term rentals are determined to be hotels, they would fall under an entirely different set of rules and tax code.
However, neighbors, who are worried things are getting worse by the night, are pleading for an intervention right now.
“None of us feel safe anymore,” Rutherford said. “It’s only a matter of time until somebody gets killed. What is HPD doing? I don’t know I would like to know what HPD is doing.”
The mayor said the short-term rentals are being operated by a small number of property owners.
“You see something like this that completely disrupts communities and it’s only really being conducted by a handful of repeat offenders and some of the operators have numerous sites,” Whitmire said. “I mean it’s actually a business of short-term rentals, and they have total disregard for the neighborhood conditions or quality of life issues.”
But until the city takes action, neighbors living among the short-term rentals may have to wait a while longer.
“It’s one thing to talk about a problem,” Whitmire said. “And then let’s enforce it.”