With the economy still in the dumpster and people with jobs even making sacrifices, it's easy to see how the idea of renting your house during Super Bowl week is appealing.
For some North Texas residents who are not all that enthralled with Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium, the prospect of making about $10,000 and hightailing it out of Dodge is hard to resist.
But here's some unsolicited advice: Give this idea some serious consideration before you begin spending the rental windfall.
Brandon Bennett, Code Compliance Director for Fort Worth, said that leaving the area or taking a hands-off approach to renting a house is a prescription for disaster.
Even if you have a formal rental agreement with a property management company that protects you against damage to a physical structure or its contents, the hassle of replacing or repairing everything from a stained carpet to a favorite lamp or vase is often not worth the check you'll get.
What's more, you may cause ill will with your neighbors and who wants to go down that road?
Bennett said that Fort Worth codes are specific regarding rental properties. A homeowner is treated much the same way as any property owner who is renting his house or a second house as a means of earning income or because the housing bubble has burst.
That means that anyone renting a house for events such as the Super Bowl, Colonial golf tournament, NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway, the Stock Show or Cutting Horse competition, has to have an agreement for a minimum of 30 days, according to the letter of the law.
In reality, Bennett acknowledges that many of these events do not last for 30 days.
So, in theory, if a Fort Worth homeowner rents a house during Super Bowl week, he or she should still do a 30-day rental agreement with the understanding the renter is staying only for seven days.
The house is then supposed to be empty for the remaining three weeks. Another renter may not occupy the dwelling.
"Once the stay reaches 30 days or longer it becomes a lease," Bennett said. "Otherwise it is treated like a hotel/motel or transient occupancy and those are not allowed in single-family residential neighborhoods."
Now, the city won't come and forcibly remove homeowners who return to their house once the renter departs after a stay less than 30 days. But a lot depends on how well-behaved and considerate of the neighborhood the renters are.
If neighbors complain, the homeowner, not the occupants, will be slammed with citations, each of which is $2,000.
"It's a lot like the speed limit," Bennett said. "The limit is 60 but most people don't get a ticket until they go past 65 or 66. We don't have endless resources and I'm sure people don't want to pay more taxes for code enforcement."
Bennett said that the city code limits occupants to four people unrelated to the renter. Thus, in theory, if a homeowner rents his home to eight people splitting the cost for the Super Bowl and six of them are unrelated to the renter, the homeowner is in violation of the code and can be fined.
In practice, if the renters don't litter, make excessive noise or otherwise disturb neighbors, the likelihood is that no one will call the city's attention to the rental accommodations.
However, there is "zero tolerance" for violations that are committed and no chance of wriggling out of a fine. That's why homeowners need to be managing their rented home, Bennett said, and keeping tabs on what's going on. It's not the city's job.
Unlike the city of Arlington, Bennett said that Fort Worth does not subject homeowners to hotel/motel occupancy taxes because those venues are not allowed in residential neighborhoods, thus the minimum 30-day lease.
Fort Worth residents who want to rent their houses or are thinking about it can get more questions answered by Code Compliance Superintendent John Hancock at 817-392-1234.
-- Pete Alfano
