Owners of vacation rental units in Elektra appealed the initial decision against the practice of renting out units for short stays last month. The hearing examiner ruled that the city could not enforce a 30-day minimal stay and VRUs owners won the appeal. This decision will probably upset some owners in the building who are concerned with alleged risks they believe are associated with temporary visitors.
Read all the legalese on the hearing examiner's decisions here.
(Update 03/02/09: I received an email from a resident, Tika Bordelon regarding the status of the appeal.
"The VRU owners had two current appeals and one was "thrown out of court" for essentially being frivolous. The other one is still going through the process but it doesn't look good for them. Many have either sold or converted to long term rentals. Our board attorney has been trying to keep us up to date of the situation, of course, at the end of the "findings and decisions" from the city it states
"...THE DIRECTOR'S CONCLUSION THAT SHORT TERM RENTAL OF THE ELEKTRA CONDOMINIUM UNITS IS NOT A PERMITTED ACCESSORY USE..."
Patrick downs, the city attorney connected to this case and also our lawyer and board all agree that it is illegal to rent for less than 30 days in the Elektra. after that they just become "rentals". The three main VRU companies:)
www.seatoskyrentals.com
www.seattlesuite.com
www.pikeplacesuites.com
They now say on their sites that their elektra properties have a 30 day minimum")
Related post:
Elektra: Does your condo building come with VRUs?
