by Paris Achen | Nov 8, 2024 | Industry News, Local Government, News, Politics & Elections, Regulatory News, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
On Election Day, voters in multiple U.S. states cast ballots on measures affecting short-term rentals, passing a mix of new and increased lodging taxes and rejecting more draconian measures. From Alabama to California, communities wrestled with ways to balance tourism...
by Paris Achen | Sep 13, 2024 | Local Government, Responsible Renting, Rules and Regulations, STR Advocacy 101
In recent years, conversations about short-term rental regulations have become inextricably intertwined with affordable and workforce housing issues. Four in five elected officials/government staff (82.7%) indicated that affordable housing was an issue in their...
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 Rent Responsibly Team | Jul 18, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Event Recaps, Local Government, Politics & Elections, STR Advocacy 101
ACCESS REPLAY Recap: In this webinar by Rent Responsibly and the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA), Nick Scarci, director of state and local government affairs at VRMA, Rolf Blizzard, managing partner at Atlantic Realty of the Outer Banks, and Alexa Nota,...
by Paris Achen | May 2, 2023 | Community Engagement, Hosting and Management, Local Government, Marketing, Professional Development, Self-Growth, Social Responsibility & Giving Back, Team Culture, Wellness
Tyann Marcink, front-center, at the CASA Justice is Served fundraiser in 2022 Have you ever heard the quote, Help yourself by helping others? According to research, helping others, aka volunteering, can also help your vacation rental business. Volunteering can help...
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 | Apr 4, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Hosting and Management, Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Local Government, Property Care, Rules and Regulations, Short-Term Rental Regulation
Like many in the short-term rental advocacy sphere, proposed regulations at the local City Council brought hosts Annette Grant and Sarah Karakaian together. Both had come to speak at the Columbus City Council meeting in spring 2018 to oppose a proposal that would have...
by Paris Achen | Jan 10, 2023 | Community Engagement, Local Government, Responsible Renting, STR Advocacy 101, Supporting Local Businesses
More than half of the housing units in the mountain town of Truckee, California, are considered vacant, according to the 2020 Census, the most recent statistics available. The properties are largely second homes that sit empty when their owners aren’t staying there or...
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...
