Plano considers regulations for short-term rentals after brothel collapse – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Plano City Council members will review the regulation of short-term rental properties again Monday night just over two weeks after an alleged sex trafficking ring was busted at a rental home.

Popular sites like Airbnb and VRBO offer rentals for as little as one night and allow homes to be operated, essentially, as a hotel.

But the city of Plano is one of many communities in North Texas that doesn’t specifically regulate rentals.

The current proposal before City Council, which meets at 6 p.m. Monday, would require owners of short-term rental properties to register with the city. This would help city officials ensure that the landlord enforces occupancy and other rental rules and that the landlord can be contacted directly by police or code enforcement in the event of a violation.

According to a presentation to council members in July, nearly 50 formal complaints were filed regarding 23 short-term rental properties in Plano between January and May of this year. Nearly half of those complaints, which range from noise violations, parties, and drug or alcohol use, stemmed from just six specific “problem properties.”

On September 23, investigators from the Plano and Dallas Police Departments executed a search warrant at a home on Las Palmas Lane after several reports of an alleged sex trafficking ring operating outside the home.

Police arrested two women, one for promoting prostitution and the other for an ongoing assault warrant, and questioned and released several other women who were allegedly victims of the sex trafficking ring.

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