Rental Restrictions

[4lornowner]

My wife & I are owners at WDW and WMH. We've be told that the properties do allow owners to rent their unit's however when we checked with the City of Palm Desert and City of Rancho Mirage as to whether we needed permits we were advised owners are not allowed to rent?

When I pressed Vistana on this, their response was essentially that they allowed rentals and if the Cities did not it would be my choice as to whether to break the law or not...

We're curious as to what the real story is and how, if at all, have owners addressed the City restrictions??

 

[VacationForever]

I have never heard of City of Palm Desert and City of Rancho Mirage disallowing to rent out their units. Can you point me to verbiage of their policies? People rent out their timeshare in the 2 cities all day long, as I have occasionally.

 

[pacman777]

Sounds like the original poster shouldn’t rent out their timeshares

 

[DeniseM]

I don't know if you talked to the front desk, or owner services, but you were given the wrong info. You don't have to discuss this with Vistana at all - period.

1. Most owner don't get licenses/permits to just rent their own 1 or 2 timeshares. They are aimed at full-time property owners, not timeshare owners.

2. You don't have to ask anyone's permission to rent your timeshares - all you do is make the reservations in your own name and advertise them.

3. After they are rented, you can go onto the Vistana dashboard, and add the guest's name and contact info to the reservation online, and send it to them. There is no reason to talk to anyone at Vistana or the resort about it.

 

[emeryjre]

There is only one restriction on renting a Vistana VOI
You can only rent a VOI at your home resort
You could not secure a reservation at another Vistana resort (not your home resort) and rent it
Just want to put that out there
Probably not an issue in your situation

 

[4lornowner]

I have never heard of City of Palm Desert and City of Rancho Mirage disallowing to rent out their units. Can you point me to verbiage of their policies? People rent out their timeshare in the 2 cities all day long, as I have occasionally.

This is what I received from the City of Palm Desert and the City of Rancho Mirage was similar:

"the City’s Short-Term Rental Ordinance does not allow timeshares in Palm Desert. Here is the City’s Link: https://library.qcode.us/lib/palm_desert_ca/pub/municipal_code/item/title_5-chapter_5_06?view=all"

 

[4lornowner]

I don't know if you talked to the front desk, or owner services, but you were given the wrong info. You don't have to discuss this with Vistana at all - period.

1. Most owner don't get licenses/permits to just rent their own 1 or 2 timeshares. They are aimed at full-time property owners, not timeshare owners.

2. You don't have to ask anyone's permission to rent your timeshares - all you do is make the reservations in your own name and advertise them.

3. After they are rented, you can go onto the Vistana dashboard, and add the guest's name and contact info to the reservation online, and send it to them. There is no reason to talk to anyone at Vistana or the resort about it.

Appreciate your feedback.

In regards to your points it sounds like they are in relation to Vistana's requirements around renting and I understand and agree. I don't need their permission as they do allow renting and have provided a means to easily do that. The issue is with the City as they have indicated renting of a timeshare is not permitted in either Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage.

I'm not sure how everyone who is renting has addressed this or whether they have even checked with the cities? BTW - the City of Palm Desert has recently passed an ordinance that states a permit is required before a rental can even be advertised, failing which the party is subject to fines.

 

[4lornowner]

There is only one restriction on renting a Vistana VOI
You can only rent a VOI at your home resort
You could not secure a reservation at another Vistana resort (not your home resort) and rent it
Just want to put that out there
Probably not an issue in your situation

Thank you.

Unfortunately the Vistana side of this isn't the issue, it the cities of Palm Desert & Rancho Mirage. I'm really looking for parties that have addressed renting units in those cities....

 

[emeryjre]

This is the link to the city of Palm Desert rules on short term rentals

If you navigate to the ordinance you will find that timeshares are exempt from the rules

Short-Term Rentals (STR) | City of Palm Desert

The City of Palm Desert requires short-term rental owners to have a permit and pay Transient-Occupancy Taxes, known as TOT. Review this page to make sure your short-term rental is in compliance with City Code and learn how to avoid fines.

www.palmdesert.gov

 

[emeryjre]

This is the link to Rancho Mirage rules on short term rentals
Timeshares are exempt from the Short Term Rental rules

17.30.270 Short-term rentals.

library.qcode.us

 

[daviator]

Timeshare resorts are already transient occupancy properties. There would be no point in banning short-term rental of a property where the existing use was already short-term occupancy. As such, I'm not aware of any short-term rental ordinances, anywhere, which apply to timeshare properties.... and if there are any, the inclusion of timeshare properties was probably an oversight and I think it could be safely ignored.

The whole point of these ordinances is to prevent conversion of residential housing stock to short term rentals. Timeshare properties are not residential housing, they are short term vacation housing just like a hotel. The only difference is how they are owned, which is irrelevant to the problem that cities are trying to solve.

 

[emeryjre]

Timeshare resorts are already transient occupancy properties. There would be no point in banning short-term rental of a property where the existing use was already short-term occupancy. As such, I'm not aware of any short-term rental ordinances, anywhere, which apply to timeshare properties.... and if there are any, the inclusion of timeshare properties was probably an oversight and I think it could be safely ignored.

The whole point of these ordinances is to prevent conversion of residential housing stock to short term rentals. Timeshare properties are not residential housing, they are short term vacation housing just like a hotel. The only difference is how they are owned, which is irrelevant to the problem that cities are trying to solve.

I wish this were true in Scottsdale
You are absolutely correct, but I think Scottsdale likes collecting the 15% on STR even in Timeshares
Last I checked the city council had not granted and exception to collecting taxes and requiring a license for STR in Scottsdale
It may have changed, but 6 months ago there were no exceptions

 

[daviator]

I wish this were true in Scottsdale
You are absolutely correct, but I think Scottsdale likes collecting the 15% on STR even in Timeshares
Last I checked the city council had not granted and exception to collecting taxes and requiring a license for STR in Scottsdale
It may have changed, but 6 months ago there were no exceptions

Disallowing STR is different than collecting taxes on it. But often the STR taxes are already being collected on timeshares (maybe by the resort adding them to the bill at checkout) so make sure they aren't trying to "double dip." If the renter is paying the taxes to the resort at check-out, you shouldn't have to pay them again.

But otherwise, yes, there are places where the timeshare owner needs to pay taxes when they rent their unit. Hawaii is another such place.

I took a quick look at the Scottsdale law, it applies to 'dwelling units" but that term doesn't seem to be defined. I wonder if the timeshare properties are considered "dwelling units" under the law. I would think they'd be considered transient accommodations since nobody ever lives in them on anything other than a short-term basis. If they are transient accommodations – for example, if guests pay the 1.75% hotel/motel tax or equivalent – then I'd argue that the timeshare units are not "dwelling units" but "hotel/motel units" not subject to the short term rental taxes.

But I'm sure smarter people than I have looked at this stuff and may know more.

 

[VacationForever]

I think I read that Four Seasons in Scottsdale is collecting STR taxes. However, MVC/Vistana properties are not (yet) doing so.