by Paris Achen | Aug 19, 2024 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, STR Advocacy 101
In early 2024, Colorado entered the national spotlight for proposing extreme taxation targeting short-term rentals (STRs). To raise revenue, state lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 33 (SB33) to the Legislature, increasing the property tax on STRs by 400% in one go. The...
by Rent Responsibly Team | Aug 16, 2024 | Leadership, Professional Development, STR Advocacy 101
“As an alliance leader, the leadership side can often be lonely, and it can be tough to pull and guide people. It’s great to come to a group of people just as passionate, involved, and committed to getting people involved in advocacy,” said Jonathan Wicks,...
by Paris Achen | Nov 1, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Politics & Elections, Press and Media, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
Despite vacation rentals’ tenure and a pandemic-driven spike in popularity, misconceptions about VRs abound. Hearing them called Airbnbs can be particularly divisive. Nevertheless, Airbnb has become the deonym for all short-term rentals. “Airbnb … got lucky because...
by Paris Achen | Oct 3, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Organization, Politics & Elections, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
An important part of running a vacation rental alliance is advocating for reasonable regulations and defending against oppressive restrictions. But as busy professionals, alliance leaders can’t be everywhere at once. Having a lobbyist to be your eyes and ears and to...
by Paris Achen | Sep 28, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Leadership, Organization, STR Advocacy 101
Rolf Blizzard grew up on a hog farm in the eastern part of North Carolina. Days on the farm started early, were filled with hard manual labor, and provided a clear idea of the basic effort it took to produce a stable, sustainable, and affordable meal – one of...
by Paris Achen | Jun 20, 2023 | Leadership, STR Advocacy 101
Kelsey Wood and fiance, Josh Knapp, stood to earn thousands of dollars from renting out their vacation rental, Mulberry Bungalow, during Super Bowl weekend in February in Phoenix, Arizona. Instead, the couple donated two nights at the vacation rental to a terminal...
by Paris Achen | Apr 10, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Local Leaders Series, Partner Features, Powered by Vrbo
Jennifer Batchelder Polcyn, a vacation rental host and property manager in Montcalm County in Central Michigan, knows the power of showing up before the firestorm. Soon after she established her vacation rental management firm, New Journey Properties, she made a...
by Paris Achen | Nov 2, 2022 | Leadership, Responsible Renting, Social Responsibility & Giving Back, STR Advocacy 101
While Jonathan Wicks lived in Chicago in the 2010s, he had a lake house in Northern Illinois that he rented short-term. At the time, the busy CEO owned a national company that cleaned homes in bank foreclosure, and because he couldn’t service his rental on his own, he...
by Paris Achen | Oct 14, 2022 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Organization, Politics & Elections, STR Advocacy 101
Today’s leading short-term rental advocates learned much of their skillset from mistakes they made along the way. Two of them, COO Alexa Nota and Director of Community Development Dana Lubner of Rent Responsibly, recently shared some of their tips and shortcuts for...
by Paris Achen | Jun 14, 2022 | Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Leaders Series, Organization, Partner Features, Politics & Elections, Powered by Vrbo
After an abrupt loss of income in 2009, Elaine and Mark Fekete faced a choice: either short-term rent their home year-round in Sandbridge Beach, a coastal neighborhood in Virginia Beach, or leave the community. Vacation rentals in Virginia Beach had not ever crossed...
