{"id":26496,"date":"2023-10-04T13:24:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T13:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belalcazar.org\/?p=26496"},"modified":"2023-10-04T13:24:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T13:24:43","slug":"nomadic-short-term-rental-host-sues-denver-cheered-on-by-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belalcazar.org\/business\/nomadic-short-term-rental-host-sues-denver-cheered-on-by-others\/","title":{"rendered":"“Nomadic” short-term rental host sues Denver, cheered on by others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Chan is a modern nomad, an untethered traveler of the world for work and pleasure, who believes the City of Denver has encroached on his right to move about freely.<\/p>\n

In 2021 and 2022, Chan rented out his home on Race Street in the Cole neighborhood while he was traveling, which was most of the year. He did that this year as well, until the Department of Excise and Licenses declined to renew his short-term rental license in August.<\/p>\n

Under city rules, homeowners can rent out only their primary residence. Excise and Licenses said that Chan doesn\u2019t have a primary residence on Race Street — or anywhere else for that matter. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe department has regularly denied short-term rental licenses to individuals who live nomadic lifestyles,\u201d department head Molly Duplechian wrote in her denial Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

So, Chan sued Excise and Licenses on Sept. 25 in Denver District Court, alleging that the city\u2019s \u201cvague language\u201d around primary residences wrongly cost him his short-term rental license and the income it has provided him in recent years, resulting in financial hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe director does not have authority to restrict private individuals from travel as they please and require them to be at home,\u201d the lawsuit said of Duplechian. \u201cA nomadic lifestyle is an individual right that cannot be restricted by an administrative agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Excise and Licenses declined to comment on the litigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping that a judge will take a good, hard look at this ordinance and tell the City of Denver to make it much more fair for residents,\u201d said attorney Sandra Silva with the Westminster office of Robinson & Henry, who is representing Chan. \u201cThat is our end goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can effectuate some change and make the process more fair, well that will be a big victory for not only Mr. Chan but short-term rental license holders,\u201d Silva said.<\/p>\n

Chan\u2019s legal challenge arrives at a time when new Mayor Mike Johnston is mulling who should run Excise and Licenses in his administration. Some short-term rental hosts have been critical of the department, which they see as too heavy-handed in their denial of permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomeowners are unhappy and we\u2019re confused,\u201d said host Steve Ramsey. \u201cThe language is vague and it\u2019s being used against us. There\u2019s no legal justification for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsey, of Platt Park, is one of a half-dozen hosts who spoke to BusinessDen about their frustrations. He is also on Johnston\u2019s transition team for Excise and Licenses and spoke with the mayor about the topic this summer, according to Ramsey.<\/p>\n

Heather Hill hopes there are changes in city government before she reapplies for a rental license next year. Hill, a musician, travels for much of the year and listed her place in LoHi while she was away from Denver, until the city determined it wasn\u2019t a primary residence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t matter that I\u2019m taxed as a primary resident, that I am from here, vote here, have my family here and additional businesses here that have employed many Colorado residents for years, and that I have supportive neighbors and no complaints,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Whit Allen, a startup founder, used short-term rental income to pay the bills while traveling to trade shows. Like Chan, he was found to be living a \u201cnomadic lifestyle\u201d and denied a renewal of his license because his Five Points condo isn\u2019t a primary residence in the city\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think of a nomad, I think of somebody crossing the desert, going point to point, watering hole to watering hole,\u201d Allen said. \u201cI don\u2019t do that. I buy roundtrip tickets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the intent of the rule and I agree with it. I want Denverites to have affordable housing. I get it. But I\u2019m not the bad guy. The intent of the rule was to keep out big investors coming in, buying up 20 properties and putting them all on Airbnb. I own one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen, like other hosts interviewed, is rooting for Chan and applauds him for taking the unusual and pricey step of suing the city for a short-term rental license. Cap Hill host Jill Collins said she \u201chad a visceral reaction reading this lawsuit\u201d because it mirrored her struggles.<\/p>\n

In southwest Denver, Paloma Mier may have to sell what she thought was her forever home. She bought it with a Veterans Affairs loan in 2019, just before losing her job to the pandemic, and had to list it on Airbnb in order to pay the bills. Mier said that her renewal was denied earlier this year, after a neighbor falsely complained of parties there.<\/p>\n

So, she went to city offices every day last week, asking them to process her reapplication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell the city, \u2018I don\u2019t even want to do Airbnb, I don\u2019t want to deal with you guys, I don\u2019t want to deal with any of this stuff,\u2019\u201d Mier said Friday. \u201cBut I\u2019m doing this in order to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.<\/em><\/p>\n

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