East Bay Township STR Moratorium. East Bay Host Association

Hey, my name is Enrico Schaefer. I, uh, and my wife and I have a rental on Lake Number 1 in Arbutus. We are the law firm, Travers Legal, that is handling some of the matters with East Bay Township in terms of the new STR ordinance. But I do have a property on the lake and I represent hundreds of Airbnb and VRBO hosts around the world on a variety of other issues, such as disputes with Airbnb on air cover claims, COVID refunds that were illegally provided by Airbnb. My partner, Mark Clark, who is actually representing this group with the municipality, he's a real estate attorney and understands municipal law. So he handles a lot of those issues as well as property management, contract drafting, and the rest. I have talked to thousands of STR hosts over the years, and we're probably the leading law firm in terms of STR issues. The number one inquiry that we get right now is on the very issues that we're facing in East Bay Township, which is municipal regulations. And as bad as we have it in terms of changes to the proposed changes to the regulations for East Bay Township, I can tell you that in many municipalities they are outright banning STRs. There are minimum 30-day limits being placed on, on the number of nights and a whole host of other regulations that in some instances are putting STRs completely out of business and in other instances causing dramatic effect on potential for rental income, such as are happening here because of the 7-day minimum. In this particular East Bay ordinance, so my message to you today is is simple: You need to be organized. You need to get a seat at the table. You need to have a voice because it's not just this amendment to the to the license process that we're facing in East Bay Township that's going to be happening. This is going to be an endless. Series of potential changes to the ordinances, county, township, statewide issues that are going to arise as a result of short-term rentals becoming more mainstream and some municipalities pushing back. There is litigation across the country by STR host groups against municipalities who are trying to limit or eliminate short-term rentals. And there is simply no way for STR hosts to have any leverage, to have any voice, to have any seat at the table unless they get organized. So thank goodness in East Bay Township, through some amazing efforts of the people who put this group together, there has been a foundation to build upon for Today's activities on behalf of hosts trying to work with the municipality, with East Bay Township, in order to change some of the proposed language on the regulations. But we need to take it up a notch. We need to leverage up in terms of getting the number of people involved in the group. We absolutely need more people involved in the group. We need you to add emails to the list. We are starting a Facebook group which will help us bring more East Bay Township STR hosts into the group. So that we can have a voice not only on today's proposed amendments to the STR regulations, but on all the stuff that's going to be coming down the pipe in the future. So here's what I'm asking you to do today. Number 1, make sure you stay involved in the email list. Number 2, when you see the link come around for East Bay Township House on Facebook, join that. Number 3, identify and invite other STR hosts in East Bay Township to join. Number 4, make sure you contribute to the legal funds so that we can in fact sit at the table as these regulations get drafted and as the, you know, as the amendment language gets considered by the municipality. Number 5, get active and get involved. In this group, take on a leadership role as either helping as an admin in the Facebook group or otherwise helping coordinate the growth of this particular organization. You've already seen today that Golden Swan in, in Traverse City, who has properties out in East Bay, has started a statewide organization for STR hosts. So we need organization, commitment, participation on a municipal level, but we also need it on a statewide level. Otherwise, we are going to be trampled by the loudest voices in the room who in many instances, in most instances, unjustifiably want to eliminate short-term rentals. My name again is Enrico Schaefer. This video is for you to make an introduction. I am a resource that just happens to be in your neighborhood, but with an international presence on STR issues. I am going to be helping with this group to continue to get it organized, to continue to build it out, to continue to, to make sure that, that we are there at the table as these ordinances are being drafted, as the amendments are being considered, that we can push back with litigation if and when necessary, that we have the leverage we need to be able to fight back against those louder voices in the room. All right. There'll be more videos in the future. In the meantime, here is the website to our law firm if you have any questions. Here is a link that I'm going to put in this email as well to my YouTube channel for STR House, which has got dozens and dozens of videos to help you understand how to manage your risks legally, how to fight back against Airbnb and VRBO when they don't pay you what they owe you, when they don't pay an error cover claim, when they unceremoniously throw you off the platform for literally no reason or because some guest lies about you, when you get bogus reviews, these types of issues. So again, a good resource here for you to tap into. Look forward to meeting you all someday at a local event. And again, thanks again.