Frustration mounts for Dallas homeowners amidst stalled short-term rental ban
Stalled short-term rental ban affects Dallas homeowners
Dallas homeowners face ongoing disruptions from "party houses" as the city's short-term rental ban remains tied up in legal limbo with no clear resolution in sight.
DALLAS - As Dallas’ ban on short-term rentals languishes in the Dallas court of appeals, homeowners next to party houses are beyond frustrated.
Dallas police responded to a large out-of-control party early on Sunday morning.
Dallas homeowners feel like they are living in legal limbo with the city's short-term rental ban while it remains on hold. The court of appeals has still not set a date for a re-hearing.
Sunday morning party
Local perspective:
Dallas police say they received a call about possible shots fired at 12:21 am. They arrived on scene twenty minutes later.
Police say there was no evidence of shots being fired, but the video shows officers did tell people they had to move their illegally parked cars.
The scene showed a motorcycle parked on a lawn and a car blocking the driveway of Dallas homeowner Jason Wanderscheid.
"They were drinking. Once alcohol is involved, at least 50 people could lead to poor decisions. That was my main concern," said Wanderscheid.
Forty minutes after the police arrived, shouting from party-goers continued.
September party
The backstory:
We last spoke with Wanderscheid nine months ago in September. That's when a neighbor recorded Dallas police's response to another large party at the same short-term rental home on Ivanhoe Lane.
Hundreds of people filed out of the home.
Like this time, police said there were no arrests made, or offenses reported.
What they're saying:
Wanderscheid says a stream of parties has continued to interrupt his sleep, even on weeknights.
"There have been many parties, and we don't get much response, because law enforcement is so overwhelmed, these are low priority," said Wanderscheid.
FOX 4’s Lori Brown called the owner of the home, who in September said he was also frustrated with his short-term renters.
This time the owner had much less to say, as he hung up shortly after the loud Sunday morning party was brought to his attention.
Future of short-term rental litigation
Big picture view:
With new city council members sworn in on Monday, Wanderscheid is hopeful something will be done to permanently shut down party houses.
"I want to go to bed at midnight, and wake up in the morning to go about my day," said Wanderscheid.
We are still working to get a response from the City of Dallas about what it is doing to push the short-term rental litigation forward.
FOX 4 also asked what the city is doing to protect homeowners who have experienced repeated nuisance problems.
We are still awaiting a response.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by an interview conducted with FOX 4's Lori Brown.