As the debate over short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods rages on in Dallas, another room-sharing platform has entered the mix but doesn’t seem to be having much success locally.
Hundreds of Dallas-Fort Worth properties are featured on short-term rental sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, and we’ve spoken to several readers who love using Swimply — which lets people rent a pool for the day — but the latest trend is sharing an affordable stay in a single room of a house thanks to Atlanta-based PadSplit.
PadSplit currently only offers 11 properties in the Dallas area with rooms for rent starting at $159 per week.
A representative who answered the phone number listed for PadSplit said the platform only offers space to individuals – no spouses, children or pets. Rental rates are only available on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, and a $19 processing fee is required. The rep said she was unable to answer questions specific to Dallas and how the platform operates within the boundaries of individual city codes and zoning designations.
The platform is advertised as “more of a home than a hotel” and users are verified through background checks to “ensure a safe home environment”.
The Dallas Plan Commission recently began reviewing the city’s code regarding short-term rentals and a city council decision could be made to restrict or eliminate rigs in residential neighborhoods. Airbnb has already banned “party houses,” which some say solve the problem of noise and code violations in neighborhoods.
PadSplit has been running for four years and has a 2.85 star rating (out of five) from Better Business Bureau reviews. The platform claims that 80% of users would recommend PadSplit to a friend.
In response to complaints Through the Better Business Bureau, PadSplit representatives say their goal is to solve the housing crisis by “using housing as a means of financial empowerment.”
Forty-eight complaints have been filed against the platform in three years.
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PadSplit entered the Texas market in 2020 with around $10 million in funding, according to TechCrunch, but hasn’t seen the same popularity as other short-term rental options. PadSplit rooms are listed in the Texas cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Galena Park, Pasadena, Baytown, Houston and San Antonio, but none in Dallas proper, where the issue of home sharing has been publicly debated in recent months. .
Real estate management green light offers two bedrooms in the same brick house in Haltom City, at $169 and $176 per week. A higher price could mean a walk-in closet, an en-suite bathroom, or more floor space.
The rooms are furnished but sheets are not provided. Guests use a communal dining area, washer and dryer, and full kitchen. They enter through a coded keypad.
Green Light also has a home available on PadSplit in East Arlington.
Officials at Green Light Property Management did not respond to a CandysDirt.com request for comment.
Other listings in the area include homes in Willow Creek and Falcon Ridge Legacy in Fort Worth.
PadSplit hosts are obligatory have home insurance and general liability insurance.
Doesn’t quite solve the housing crisis
A review of PadSplit published in The Startup claims that the platform does not solve the housing affordability crisis, nor does it define the member/host relationship as landlord and tenant.
“PadSplit seeks to exist in a legal gray area by telling its ‘members’ that they have no rental rights,” said the article States. “It allows them to bypass eviction procedures and create a constant flow of residents, who are evicted and replaced if they run out of money. PadSplit’s Membership Agreement states: ‘This is not a lease…’”
Another one article in The New Republic calls shared spaces flophouses and tells stories of former tenants who were locked out for not paying rent.
PadSplit maintains that its niche provides a cohabitation marketplace for the workplace, according to the platform’s site.
“The model aligns incentives for landowners, cities, businesses and workers, averaging more than double the net operating profit for the owner,” according to the site.
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