Indy locals urge city to take action against short-term rentals

INDIANAPOLIS – Problems with short term rentals in communities across the city have been a problem for a couple of years.

This issue has caused organizations in areas affected to come together to create the Coalition to Address Short Term Rentals.

Fountain square is one of the neighborhoods that has been impacted. Residents like Eula Wilson have lived in Fountain Square for 27 years. Despite the issues, she isn’t planning on leaving any time soon.

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"My daughter lives down the street, that's three of my grand kids,” Wilson said. “My son lives up on Raymond, that's three more of my grand kids. I've raised my kids here. I've raised my grand kids here."

She has the seen the community change but recently, short term rentals and aibnb's have caused a nuisance.

"They park on the sidewalks,” Wilson said. “They have blocked my gates before where I can't get out unless I climb the fence. They make noise. There are shootings. There was a shooting down the street."

Problem properties are why neighborhood organizations worked with the city. They brought together police and city council members to address the problem. That solution came to fruition in Proposal 205 which would require the owner of short-term rentals to register with the city annually. The one time fee would be 150 dollars.

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"When things go wrong, when the city tries to intervene, when emergency services show up, police, fire, they don't know who to contact,” Dakota Pawlicki, the President of the Fountain Square neighborhood association said.

This permitting process is something Dakota Pawlicki has been working with the city to get on the books for a couple of years. He says one major issue is that many of the owners of the short-term rentals are not local.

WATCH | City working to crack down on short-term rentals

"Many are owned by folks that don't even live in the state of Indiana,” Pawlicki said. “So this directory just gives us a chance to actually know which properties are being used as short term rentals and who owns them.”

Others would like to see it be more than a permitting process.

"They have hosts, Airbnb hosts that is supposed to be watching the houses, but they don't watch them,” Wilson said.

Here's the catch, further action would have to be taken by the state.

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"The state passed a law that says you can't regulate short term rentals unless you have a private HOA,” Pawlicki said. “So apparently if you are wealthy in the state of Indiana it's fine, but for everyone else you aren't allowed to regulate anything."

So for now residents hope knowing who owns the homes is enough to keep major issues from happening. The proposal is up for a final vote on Monday, August 12th.

If you have a problem with short-term rentals in your community, there is a website where you can report those issues.