Where are the Rental Facts?

8/16/2021 24 Comments

Where are the Rental Facts?

Terri Swartz just sent all the homeowners on behalf of the Board of directors a DESERT PRINCESS RENTALS - BULLETIN explaining why the HOA needs the have new rules, policies, fines and enforcement. It was summed up by a statement that all homeowners can agree with:

"To maintain a harmonious community, we must respect homeowners with divergent needs and interest.
Ultimately, we want to balance the desires of some homeowners to rent their homes, while
we preserve the rights for all homeowners to the quiet, peaceful enjoyment of their property."

What is missing from this bulletin, are any facts about the performance of the HOA's management of rentals in the past year. We know how the BOD wants to spend our money and how much they expect to receive. We do not have any facts that document the extent of our problems and how last years funds have reduced "disruptive rentals" at Desert Princess.

Since the board and HOA are not providing facts, the Blog would like to hear from homeowners on whether they have experienced an increase and/or decrease in problem rentals and do you believe that these changes are tied to HOA's management of rentals?

24 Comments

Takis Vartelas

8/16/2021 09:57:15 pm

We have been renting our villa for the past 3 years to professional executives and we have never experienced any problems with our renters. Just an FYI we only rent our villa LONF TERM from November to April and we are use it the rest of the time....We do not agree and will NOT pay the fee the Board want to impose, especially when Terri on her email to all of us indicated that the Board prefers Long Term rentals.......
Terri also wrote that it is easier nowadays to rent to "strangers" but my answer is that most of us that own businesses deal with "strangers" all the time. In my situation owning 6 restaurants, serving over 3000 per day I am dealing with many "strangers". And ???????

H David abbott

8/17/2021 07:43:47 am

AGREE

D C

8/20/2021 12:04:11 pm

Since Desert Princess was developed almost over 30 years ago, no one put a limitation on the owners to reach the best and highest use for their property, which includes the ability to rent their property. According to Terri Swartz and this BOD their identified problem is that owners are renting to "STRANGERS"!!!. How would Terri and the BOD would feel if they would be discriminated against when they are seeking housing, or a meal in a restaurant? Their solution to their identified problem of owners renting to "STRANGERS" , is to create a Gestapo like Rental Police which, undoubtedly, primary activity will be to slap $1000 and $5000 fines on owners. What will be next? Marks on the doors?

Mary Maloney

8/21/2021 07:31:29 am

Isn't everyone a stranger even when they BUY a home here.......

Caroline M

8/16/2021 10:32:01 pm

All good points. It would be good for the board to be more transparent about moneys spent in the past to implement their rules.

Dany

8/16/2021 11:45:11 pm

Owner since 2005. Never experienced any problems with long term nor STRs in my neighborhood. All recent hoopla seems excessive and unwarranted. There is no transparency. Fed up with the deception!

H David abbott

8/17/2021 07:45:27 am

Agreed .. take care of picking weeds and fixing concrete

H David abbott

8/17/2021 07:53:15 am

Agreed ..

Dany

8/16/2021 11:46:45 pm

Recall

Stone

8/17/2021 12:44:11 am

I am disgusted with the situation with the non stop revolving door, out of SIX units- FOUR ARE VACATION RENTALS!!!!!

The not knowing who should be in and out are units.

My weber stainless steel BBQ stolen right off my back patio, along with two rocker/swivel patio chairs matching my patio set.

One of my vehicles keyed from the one side to the other and across the hood-

Constant non stop damage caused by the golf carts-racing across the front of my unit-this last Thursday/Friday another walk away light completely destroyed.

I pay in addition to the HOA, a monthly gardener service-attempting to keep my unit manicured-shameful.

K Muraco

8/17/2021 08:39:30 am

Hey Stone,
I’m sorry that you’ve had issues in your neighborhood but are you sure it’s from renters ?
Where is your proof? If you know who did the damage and stole your patio set then why didn’t you report it to security or the police? All renters are not thieves. Keying your car ? Someone was angry with you. Tell the police who you’ve pissed off lately and you may have the culprit. Innocent until proven guilty.

8/17/2021 05:51:11 pm

Dear Stone,
I am sorry to hear you have had the challenges that you have. I agree with K Muraco though, that unless you have proof that it is renters, one must not assume. Whomever colored the ponds red in DP twice, clearly were not short term renters. As that doesn't add up that the same thing would happen twice within the time period it occurred. That had to have been someone who lives in DP full time or was here seasonally.
In regard to your overall frustration of vacationers coming to stay: It was disclosed when you purchased in Desert Princess that short term rentals are allowed. AND, the community was originally built by Princess Cruise Lines. The Desert Princess was always intended to be a vacation destination. There is even a hotel on the property. It IS a vacation destination. And thank god for the vacationers who bring in extra money to the amenities. Because the BOD is not marketing them properly so there sure as heck isn't a correct and needed amount of revenue being generated from the public like there should be.
MOST of the short term, seasonal and long term homeowners are very responsible in vetting their guests and making sure that the guests are aware of the rules. That is why the Cathedral City police dept. and the City rental compliance manager have stated that short term rentals are not a big problem in the Desert Princess. I am sure there probably are 1 or 2 homeowners who are not so good at vetting their guests and making sure they adhere to the rules. There are always going to be issues anywhere you live having to do with something or other. But here in the Desert Princess, there is no documentation thus far that proves that short term renters are a big problem in the Desert Princess. In fact, just the opposite.

Mary Maloney

8/21/2021 07:50:36 am

Hello, I am very sorry to hear of this. Have you installed cameras front and back at your unit? It is a quick installation. On a larger macro scale, this is what I mean that our board needs to be more focused on lighting, cameras, shoring up "soft spots" in our community that allow outside access to our community. We had an incident at our unit RIGHT as the big painting crew came through......coincidence, I don't think so. We've owned for 4 years and rented for 2 years without any problems. There are a lot of people that have access and are in our community, not just renters.......

Judge

8/17/2021 06:15:47 am

Get rid of STORAGE and all this BS will go away!! Everything was fine until he took over!

Marianne Thomas link

8/17/2021 07:05:36 am

I find the sweeping generalities the board sends out without any information to back up what they say totally unacceptable.
I asked a real estate agent to summarize for me what all these fees etc. amount to. It is mind boggling. Have sent the information to an account for advice.
Have been an owner since 2003.

Ken Muraco

8/17/2021 08:18:21 am

We’ve been a Condo owner since 2003 and we have never had a problem with a renter. Never a complaint directed towards us. Our neighbors never even knew we rented it out. Long term was always my preferred choice and our current renter has been there four years. She is a teacher who deserves a nice place to rent at a reasonable price. She makes no more of a footprint than we would if we as owners were there. I don’t understand this unreasonable yearly fee, for what?
Her transponder is activated yearly and the security takes her calls when needed just like the rest of us.
Terri, your points were made on what we all want from our community and your getting all that from my property, so why are we being grouped together with problem cases? Fine the problem cases and leave the rest of us compliant owners alone.
We all agree with your letter regarding the desire to live in a safe community but it didn’t tell the story of the necessity of why you’re expecting us who rent out our properties to pay for it alone or the real necessity of why this fee increase is needed?

Vivian

8/18/2021 09:23:05 am

I wholeheartedly agree with you Ken. I might add that this type of discrimination is confirming that unlike tenants/renters, ALL homeowners are 100% compliant, which we all know is not true.

Morgan

8/17/2021 08:54:54 am

I recently bought a villa. My immediate next door neighbor runs a short term rental. The renters typically come and go every weekend. They are typically younger (~30s) and have been quiet and respectful so I don't have any complaints. They soak in the hot tub and have cocktails and use the grill which is what I like to do at my own home :-). Sometimes they listen to music and it's never loud. When I chat with them once in a while they are always so effusive about how beautiful the community is and are very thankful to be staying there. I think that's really neat. If I had to find something to complain about, it would be that sometimes there are several vehicles on the street. I am a part time resident and have thought about doing short term rentals myself, and the ability to do so in Desert Princess is one of the most compelling reasons for me to buy my home here, even though at this point I don't plan to do them. On a related note, I think the ability for homeowners to rent short term is one of the reasons we're seeing home values skyrocket in the community over the last 8 months as well. City dwellers from LA and SD want a quiet place to get away but are still working and STR gives them flexibility around when they can use their desert home. I think it's great.

TERRY Albright

8/17/2021 12:07:44 pm

We have lots of issues here at DP that go back years and continue to this day based on mismanagement by those in leadership roles. The management trust's go to solution to most issues is to reach into homeowner's pockets and cry about how much staff time would be involved to provide data to support their decision to do so. The board has a President largely considered to be an authoritarian jerk who is beyond rude and disrespectful. Capable management teams do exist. We are just not working with one. There are exceptions. The new manager of our security is very capable and a welcome change. She has highly developed "people skills" and a excellent example to those she manages.
The board does not respect homeowners nor does the management trust. DP has the horsepower to hire competent managers who work for us instead of for-profit organizations who have no skin in the game and see DP as a profit center.

Jamie

8/17/2021 03:12:52 pm

I’ve just completed 1 full year renting, to short and longer term guests. My job took me away from CA but I wanted to keep roots planted there. It’s been a successful venture. Guests must be of a certain age, all are interviewed, along with the price point all supports only responsible individuals. Having guests in my home provides a sense of comfort that people are in my home keeping an eye and ear on my place. Maintenance issues, lawn and pool care, pests… all get addressed, quickly! My guests love Desert Princess and utilize all the amenities generating much needed revenue for our community and helps offset our HOA expenses. Rules and policies are administered and communicated all at contract. I’ve had zero issues with my neighbors. It’s been a very positive experience.

Bill

8/17/2021 07:12:12 pm

A squeeze on the middle class.
I have owned a condo in DP since 2013. It is a second home that I rent out, and I can visit this beautiful resort when it is not rented. Yes this is a BUSINESS within Desert Princes, this Americans way to get ahead by putting in some extra efforts, which is rewarded in kind, (the American way). This has allowed me the affordability. I am middle class and would not be able to afford it otherwise here in California. I have never (EVER!) had a problem with renters, and my neighbors will attest to this. Aside from the occasional friend and frequently now my returning renters, most everyone I rent to are STRANGERS! (Aka other human beings that I do not know personally) and they have been very respectful. I do vet the people I rent to and make sure they understand the rules and regulations. They appreciate this and comply respectfully. I also have at least a 4-night minimum. This is a comfortable amount of time for me and most of my renters who want to cook their own meals and have a nice family time while here in this beautiful resort.
This moratorium has an effect on property values. A friend recently had offers to sell their condo in DP. The offers were pulled once the potential buyers found out about the moratorium. Renting would allow them the affordability to have a second (vacation) home and allows a larger number of people to compete for the properties here. The moratorium in turn allows someone with a huge pile of cash to come and purchase since they won’t need to rely on rental income, cutting out the middle class. The purchase price came down too, lower than the other offers. Hey board, how difficult is it to find out how many homes are rentals and compare that number to the limited amount? Give me your spreadsheet and I can do it in 2 minutes. REMOVE the MORATORIUM. This is BS!
There is of course a log with the security of every single call, and a report is made. GIVE ME THE LOG and I can summarize for you where the complaints are coming from and give you a concise reasoning if $500 is warranted for a new car and hiring a new dedicated compliance officer. The extra fees and fines are BS! There is obviously a personal agenda with people on the board to be rid of rentals. “Give us $500 a year or we will fine you $1000 or $5000.” Extorsion?
This should all go the same way of the $100 golf cart fee from last year which was also an ill-conceived idea and absolutely unfair to a large group of people. So here we go again. Remove the moratorium and the fees!

8/17/2021 09:49:51 pm

Amen Bill.
The moratorium is only in place because the Management Trust does not have their stuff together and is a mess. There is no other reason for that.
I completely agree with you. The fact that DP allows STVR, keeps the property values higher. There are TOO many other places you can buy to just rent seasonally or more. Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, etc. Sorry, but if the HOA fees continue to increase at this rate and if DP BOD continues these sorts of practices, everyone can expect to see their property values drop or stall. Again, there are TOO MANY other options of places to buy at the current market value and HOA fees. If this BOD continues down this path, all will feel the hit.
Ask any real estate agent who lists regularly in DP and they will attest to this. Bill is absolutely correct.

Morgan

8/18/2021 11:26:49 am

Sorry I'm not in the loop. I was under the impression that short term rentals are allowed. What is this moratorium and when did it take effect?

Tim

8/19/2021 02:36:01 pm

How many people rent their condos at DPCC?
That should be something that the HOA can tell us very clearly.

I would suggest if you really want to have a voice, form an "Association of Responsible Owner at DPCC".

Ask for official recognition from the Board. And also a little money.
We have clubs and other group throughout the complex.
Although independent of the Board or HOA, we should still have recognition as a segment of DPCC.

But if not, so what.

If they don't want to sanction it, just set it up outside of DPCC but with our own website and slate of officers.
It needs to include all or nearly all owners who rent property or have rental licenses to be effective.

You can start with a fee of @ $25/year to get everyone registered and connected by email, build a website, etc.
Form an email tree to send emails to each BOD Member directly on issues, like we should have done with the $500 increase.

Then... Everyone needs to vote on rental and other issues.
Voting is the only thing these guys understand.

That would be a start if you want to have a voice at DPCC.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Charter

This blog is designed as a means to provide transparency and informative access to the policies and protocols of the Desert Princess Palm Springs Homeowners Association, the governance of the HOA Board of Directors and the management of the community’s assets by The Management Trust. The expressed intent is to establish a neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services; it is hoped that homeowners will use it to build a stronger and safer Desert Princess Palm Springs.

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Where are the Rental Facts?

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