Rachel Hopper had just bought a short-term rental (STR) in Henderson, Nevada, when the city council imposed a moratorium on new rentals in September 2020. The 90-day moratorium was in effect while the council considered new regulations.
The fast-moving changes spurred Rachel into action. She communicated with city officials, listened to their perspectives, and showcased the benefits of the STR industry.
“As I was talking to some of the code enforcement officers and the people that ran the licensing division, they had such a bad taste in their mouth with some of these STR operators who were trying to represent the rest of this community,” Rachel said. “I was like, you know what, we’ve got to change this perspective and persona. We’ve got to really start positioning ourselves in a better light.”
Another STR advocate, Cindy Lowman, had reached the same conclusion. She approached Rachel about starting an STR association in Henderson that focused on professionalism and advocating for fair regulations that addressed the community’s concerns without putting STRs out of business.
“There was really an opportunity for an organization to step in and say: Look, we don’t want to be a selfish organization. We don’t want to only care about what we want; we want to work with the city to understand the challenges that they’re facing and then turn around and educate other hosts about responsible renting practices,” Rachel said.
Advocacy at the Legislature
Rachel and Cindy founded the Short-Term Rental Association of Henderson, or STRAH, in late 2020 to represent owners and managers of the more than 500 short-term rental listings in the city.
STRAH experienced a sort of baptism by fire soon after forming when state lawmakers earlier this year introduced a bill that would severely curb some short-term rental operations.
Assembly Bill 363 sets a statewide minimum distance between short-term rental units of 660 feet, except in multifamily buildings, throughout the state of Nevada. Municipalities are authorized to require a greater minimum distance, which could keep certain STRs from operating.
The association worked with other advocates and Vrbo to come up with a concerted strategy for responding to the bill.
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Precious time with family
Rachel felt the best way to illustrate the benefits of short-term rentals was by sharing her personal story about how owning STRs had transformed her life as well as the lives of her guests and workers.
Hosting has allowed her to take a leave of absence from her job at a social networking company and have the time and money to care for her mother, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon and bladder cancer in 2018.
“When my mom got her diagnosis, I said, I don’t want to regret a second of time not spent with her,” Rachel said. “Having the flexibility and financial freedom that hosting has given me, I can take my mom places she’s never been, and we can have those wonderful experiences and memories. Also, it’s allowed me the chance to take some time off work as I’ve needed, take her to doctor’s appointments, and not have to worry that FMLA won’t pay me anymore.”
In testimony to lawmakers, she provided a list of numbers that illustrated how her two STRs – one in Henderson and one in Las Vegas – had given her more time with her family, including her 17-month-old daughter and mother.
“Five – That’s how many days a week she has chemotherapy or a lab test or another doctor’s appointment,” she told lawmakers. “Eighteen – That’s the average hours a day that as her sole caregiver I spend taking her to and from appointments, helping her with chores of daily living, administering her medications or helping her hold her 1-year-old grandbaby while she still can.”
Henderson short term rentals and local job creation
The contractors who clean and maintain the properties also told lawmakers that Rachel’s STRs had provided them with employment after they lost their jobs in other industries during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sheena McClure, Rachel’s cleaning assistant, said in a video message that she was laid off from bartending when the pandemic hit. Rachel offered Sheena work cleaning her STRs to keep her afloat while her bartending jobs were on hold.
“It is the only thing that allows me to pay my bills and stay off unemployment and get by and take care of my animals and myself and put food on the table,” Sheena said. “I think it’s really important to protect jobs right now, and to be able to work for her has really changed my life.”
Just as compelling were the stories of Rachel’s guests. She has hosted a family member who was waiting for news of a loved one after the Las Vegas Strip shooting on Oct. 1, 2017. A year later, she hosted a survivor of the same shooting who returned to Vegas for healing but was unable to stay on the Strip due to PTSD.
Additionally, Rachel lists her properties on a travel website for families of children with special needs, and over the years, she has hosted 50 of these families. Without the option of staying in a house where it is easier to prevent sensory overload in children with autism, many of the families would have been unable to visit Las Vegas, she noted. She also wrote a letter to the editor at the Las Vegas Sun in opposition to the legislation.
Ultimately, AB 363 passed both chambers of the Nevada Legislature and was signed into law on June 4.
However, the STR advocacy community came a long way in making their voices heard and showing a collaborative approach and united front during the process, Rachel said. STRAH will continue to work with Vrbo to advocate for STR owners as different municipalities consider their own ordinances on minimum distances.
Responsible hosting
Rachel believes responsible hosting can solve many of the issues that come up with STRs, and education is a key solution. Not only do policymakers need to know the benefits that STRs bring their community but STR operators need to know best practices that help prevent neighborhood nuisances like noise and make an STR a community asset, she said.
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“If we can teach STR operators how to rent responsibly, then, that will cast the whole host community in a better light so that we have less opposition to it within the local community,” Rachel said.
She advises owners to outline clear expectations in their listings, inquire about the reason for guests’ stay to try to prevent parties, and reiterate house rules. Some guests may not read the house rules before booking, so it’s important to highlight the most important rules in the listing description, she said.
Additionally, Rachel uses noise monitoring software, cameras at entrances, and security company monitoring to prevent noise and other issues.
She also nurtures good relationships with her neighbors by communicating frequently with them. Some of them even rent her house when they have family come into town.
“At the end of the day, I want to make sure my neighbors know that I care about them too. I’m not just here to make money, I want to do both, and I think it’s possible to do both.”
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