WRITTEN
PUBLIC
COMMENT
CITY COUNCIL
MEETING
JANUARY 18, 2022
Quality of Life for Which
Residents of La Quinta?
Alena Callimanis
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ALENA CALLIMANIS
MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - QUALITY OF LIFE FOR LA QUINTA RESIDENTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ALENA CALLIMANIS
MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - QUALITY OF LIFE FOR LA QUINTA RESIDENTS What about quality of life for Lisa Castro?
Digging out 16.7 acres, ½ mile by 400 feet of desert, up to 7 or 8 feet deep. “The world's deserts may be storing some of the climate-changing carbon dioxide emitted by human activities.” Carbon dioxide will be released contributing to Green House Gas emissions.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ALENA CALLIMANIS
MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - QUALITY OF LIFE FOR LA QUINTA RESIDENTS What about the residents of Six New
developments underway along 58th or the seven
existing ones?
Cantera
The
Quarry
Andalusia
Trilogy
Legends
PGA West
Palo
Verde
Lisa
Castro
Guillermo
Casillas
Stone
Creek
Santa
Rosa
Trails
Coral
Mount.
AltaVerde
PGA
West
Lion’s
Gate
Santerra
Private
Land
Estate
Collection at Coral Mountain
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ALENA CALLIMANIS
MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - QUALITY OF LIFE FOR LA QUINTA RESIDENTS 1 From: Castro, Andrew
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 1:10 PM
To: City Clerk Mail
Subject: Written Comments
Attachments: Request for Clarification 01-18-22.pdf
Importance: High
** EXTERNAL: This message originated outside of the City of La Quinta. Please use proper judgement and caution when opening attachments, clicking links or responding to requests for information. ** Please accept the attached PDF submission of my written comment for the public record on 01/18/22 at 1:10pm. ‐Andrew
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 13:02:30 Pacific Standard Time
Subject: Request for Clarifica1on
Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 1:01:23 PM Pacific Standard Time From: Castro, Andrew
To: [email protected]
Priority: High
ABachments: Request for Clarifica1on 01-18-22.pdf
Mr. McMillen:
Please find my request for clarifica1on aMached.
Thank you,
Andrew
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 1 TO: Jon McMillen, City Manager, City of La Quinta
FROM: Andrew Castro, resident/student
DATE: 01/18/22
RE: Request for Clarification of Executive Orders and La Quinta Municipal Code
SENT VIA EMAIL
Mr. McMillen:
Can you please help me understand certain past and present portions of the La Quinta Municipal Code (LQMC), Executive Orders (EOs), and city contracts with vendors by replying to my below questions via email at ? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
1. Divulging La Quinta Property Owners’ and Residents’ Information1to Private Companies That Retain Owners’ and Residents’ Information for Private Companies’ Own Commercial Use, Both During and After Contract Periods.
Did/does the city contract with Deckard Technologies, Inc.; GovOs, Inc. (DBA “LodgingRevs”; “MuniRevs”); Minut, Inc.; NoiseAware, Inc.; and/or any other entities that have a right to retain La Quinta property owners’, residents’, and STVR renters’ information and insights gleaned therefrom for private, commercial use, some of which was provided to said entities by the city and included personal identifying information like names, addresses, phone numbers, and other insights gleaned by way of private transactions that were only disclosed to or accessed by the city for monitoring compliance with its tax remittance codes? a. With the above considerations in mind, have the above-mentioned companies or other similarly situated entities derived any financial, strategic, reputational, and/or other benefit or gain by marketing, selling, or otherwise commodifying La Quinta owners’, residents’, and STVR renters’ personal information (including metadata and insights gleaned therefrom)? If so, please provide examples of such gain. If not, please describe how the city knows this?
1 See section 7.3 of each “Agreement for Contract Services” between La Quinta and the companies referenced in 6(a) of this document. For example, the Deckard contract states that the “City shall provide [Deckard] with any plans, publications, reports, statistics, records, or other data or information pertinent to the Services to be performed hereunder [(see “Exhibit A” of the contract, appended to this document)] which are reasonably available to [Deckard] only from or through action by [the] City” and that Deckard “may retain copies of [All drawings, specifications, maps, designs, photographs, studies, surveys, data, notes, computer files, reports, records, documents, and other materials plans, drawings, estimates, test data, survey results, models, renderings, and other documents or works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, including but not limited to, physical drawings, digital renderings, or data stored digitally, magnetically, or in any other medium prepared or caused to be prepared by [Deckard], its employees, subcontractors, and agents in the performance of this Agreement] FOR [DECKARD’S] OWN USE. [And DECKARD] SHALL HAVE AN UNRESTRICTED RIGHT TO USE THE CONCEPTS EMBODIED THEREIN.” Exhibit A states that the City uses Deckard “on all identifiable properties in [La Quinta]” by using “publicly available data and such other data relevant to [La Quinta] to be provided to Deckard by [the City]” so that Deckard can, among other things, identify “[t]he aggregate revenue from actively listed bookings; . . . “[a]verage daily rates[ and b]ooking trends;” and to “[i]dentify, by address, [STVR listings and advertisements],” including “actively listed STRs by month and address;” and “[l]ist the property owners. . . [and] permit history of each property”; and provide “[t]racking of Home Sales . . . and other services as requested by the City.” Exhibit A of GovOs’s contract (appended hereto) appears even more comprehensive.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 2 b. Are or were the above-mentioned companies or similarly situated entities granted express, written permission by hosting platforms like VRBO, HomeAway, Airbnb, or other hosting platforms/websites, to employ the “evidence capture” and data mining and tracking/location methods and technologies contemplated by the Agreement for Contract Services between the city and MuniRevs? (See Addendum 2 at the end of this document.)
2. Suspending, Revoking, Pausing, or Declining to Renew Short Term Vacation Rental (STVR) Permits Unless Renewal Applicants Submit Already-Publicly-Available CC&Rs or A Private HOA Letter Proving to City That Renewal Applicants Are Allowed to Use STVR-Permit-Holding Property As STVR, Even When the AlreadyPublicly-Available CC&Rs Do Not Reflect Any Prohibition on STVR Use and the City Does Not Possess Any Duly Authorized Document from Renewal Applicants’ Private HOA That Indicates STVRs Are Prohibited on Renewal Applicants’ Property.
Is there any section of the LQMC or any Executive Order that has conditioned or now conditions renewal of STVR permits on renewal applicants first submitting CC&Rs or a letter from their HOA to the city proving that said renewal applicants are allowed to use their property as an STVR when the city does not possess any duly authorized document from renewal applicants’ HOA that indicates STVRs are not allowed on renewal applicants’ property? If so, what are the specific LQMC or EO sections? a. Did/does the city condition renewal of existing STVR permits on renewal applicants first submitting CC&Rs or a letter from renewal applicants’ HOA indicating that STVRs are allowed on renewal applicants’ property? If so, when did this practice begin?
i. In 2020 and 2021, how many STVR permits lapsed (became invalid) for any period of time despite applicants submitting STVR renewal applications between 60 and 30 days before the expiration of their existing STVR permits?
ii. How many permits remain lapsed (invalid) because renewal applicants failed to submit CC&Rs or failed to submit an HOA letter (where the city did not possess any duly authorized HOA letter stating STVRs were/are not allowed)?
b. Were owners who submitted applications for renewal of their STVR permits but whose renewals were not granted by the city because they did not submit CC&Rs or an HOA letter with their renewal application informed of and given the opportunity for an administrative hearing on the revocation (non-renewal) of their STVR permit? c. Were owners whose permits were revoked (not renewed) because they did not submit CC&Rs or an HOA letter with their renewal application cited for advertising or operating their property as an STVR without a valid STVR permit before they were given notice of or an opportunity for an administrative hearing on the non-renewal of their STVR permit? If so, how many such citations were issued? CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 3 d. If an STVR permit holder’s chooses not to renew their permit (allows permit to expire), are said permit holders prohibited from thereafter obtaining a valid STVR permit?
3. Requiring STVR Permit Holders to Submit $0 Transient Occupancy Tax for Periods of Non-Rental.
What, if any, portion of the LQMC requires STVR permit holders to submit monthly TOT statements or forms to the city reflecting $0 for periods of time when their property is not rented as an STVR?
a. May the city place a “hold” on an STVR permit because the permit holder has not submitted TOT documentation reflecting $0 to the city for periods of non-rental? i. If so, may the city decline to renew an STVR permit (despite receiving compliant renewal application) until the applicant submits said $0 TOT documentation to the city?
ii. Were owners who submitted applications for renewal of their STVR permits but whose renewals were not granted by the city because they did not submit $0 TOT documentation informed of and given the opportunity for an administrative hearing on the non-renewal?
iii. If an owner rents their STVR-permitted property for more than 30 consecutive days, does the city require said owners to report that rental period? For example, if such a property is rented for 30 days in April (entire month), does the STVR permit holder need to report $0 for the month of April in the city’s TOT remittance system? Or do they need to report the rental income?
1. If they need to report the rental income, does the system automatically charge the TOT?
2. If so, on how many instances has such taxation occurred?
3. Do month-to-month or long-term rentals that do not require an STVR permit need to report and remit TOT?
a. If so, on how many instances has such taxation occurred?
4. Not Processing Applications for Renewal of STVR Permits.
In 2020 and 2021 respectively:
a. How many applications for STVR permit renewal did the city receive? b. How many applications for STVR permit renewal did not result in the renewal of an STVR permit within 30 days of applicants submitting the renewal application? CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 4 i. Of those applications that did not result in renewal within 30 days of submission, how many have yet to result in STVR permit renewal? c. How many payments or checks submitted with renewal applications did the city return to applicants or otherwise decline to cash or accept despite applicants submitting such payment or checks with complete STVR permit renewal applications?
d. How many renewal applicants whose permits were not renewed within 30 days of submission were notified of an opportunity to have an administrative hearing on the non-renewal of their STVR permit?
e. How many administrative hearings on non-renewal of STVR permits occurred?
5. Charging 1% Greater Palm Springs Tourism Business Improvement District Tax on Rentals of 28 Days or More.
What, if any, ordinance or code authorizes the city to collect 1% GPSTBID tax on STVR rental stays of 28 days or more?
a. If the city is not authorized to collect the 1% GPSTBID on rental stays of 28 consecutive days or more at STVR-permitted properties, has the city nevertheless collected the GPSTBID tax on stays of 28 or more consecutive days by requiring STVR permit holders to report the number of days of a stay by calendar month and subsequently taxing the stay based on only the total number of days per calendar month, even if the days in a given month are part of a stay of 28 days or more consecutive days that occurs over multiple calendar months? i. For example, if a 30 consecutive day STVR rental stay starts in midJanuary and ends in mid-February, with the first 15 days of the period falling in January and the remaining 15 days falling in February, does the city tax the 1% GPSTBID on the 15 days reported for January? Does the city then assess the 1% tax on the remaining 15 days reported for February?
ii. To date, what is the total dollar amount of 1% GPSTBID tax that the city has collected on STVR stays of 28 or more consecutive days that were reported over multiple calendar months?
1. How many STVR permitted properties had their reported stays taxed in this manner?
iii. To date, what is the total dollar amount of 10% TOT tax that the city has collected on stays of 28 or more consecutive days that were reported over multiple calendar months?
1. How many STVR permitted properties had their reported stays taxed in this manner?
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 5 6. STVR Permit Renewal Timeline After Applicants Submit Compliant Renewal Application.
If an STVR permit holder submits a complete application for renewal of their STVR permit in compliance with all sections of Chapter 3.25 of the LQMC (e.g., between 60 and 30 days prior to STVR permit expiration), may the city take more than 30 days to process the application that results in a gap between permit expiration and renewal despite the timely submission of a complete renewal application?
a. For example, if an STVR permit expires 30 days from the date on which a 3.25- compliant/complete application is submitted and the city does not renew the applicant’s permit before the permit expires, can the city thereafter cite the renewal applicant for advertising or operating their STVR without a valid permit before the city renews the permit?
7. Scope of LQMC 3.25.
Are property owners who hold STVR permits limited to the prescribed bedroom and occupancy limits of their permits when using or occupying their property themselves? a. For example, if an owner who holds an STVR permit occupies their STVR-permitted property themselves overnight and exceeds their STVR permit’s bedroom or overnight occupancy limit, has the owner violated the LQMC?
8. Reviewing Impacts of Ban on Issuance of New STVR Permits to Non-Exempt Properties.
Has the city’s moratorium reduced the concentration of STVR permitted properties in specific areas where the concentration was significant? Has concentration increased anywhere? If concentration increased anywhere, was that concentration increase higher for areas where properties are zoned or otherwise exempt from the STVR moratorium via entitlements derived through negotiations between the city and private owners/managers developing private projects?
9. Scope of LQ Executive Order No. 7 (“EO 7”).
Did EO 7 as ordered on 03/26/20 prohibit property owners who held STVR permits from using or occupying their property themselves (even if not renting to anyone)? a. If so, what were said owners allowed to do at or on their STVR-permitted properties while the order was in effect (prior to 05/12/20 amendment)? b. Additionally, did EO 7, as amended on 05/12/20, condition STVR-permit-holding property owners’ ability to use or occupy their property themselves on owners first submitting evidence to the city sufficient to convince the city that it should authorize said owners to use or occupy owners’ property?
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 6 10. Scope of LQ Executive Order No. 9 (“EO 9”).
Did EO 9, section 2(c) (“no sound amplification at any time”), as ordered on 07/15/20 and as amended through 03/22/21, apply to STVR-permit-holding property owners who were using or occupying (i.e., not renting to anyone) their properties themselves? a. While the order was in effect, did the city tell STVR-permit-holding property owners to turn off said owners’ music when owners amplified music using an outdoor speaker on owners’ STVR-permitted properties?
b. While the order was in effect, did STVR-permit-holding owners receive strikes, fines, or permit suspensions for owners’ amplification of sound (e.g., playing music over outside speaker) themselves on owners’ STVR-permitted properties? c. While the order was in effect, were STVR-permit-holding owners compelled to prove that they owned their STVR-permitted properties while using or occupying owners’ properties themselves (e.g., to prove to Code Compliance, sheriff’s officer, or citycontracted security officer that an owner themselves was amplifying sound on their property)? By what means was ownership required to be (or actually) proved?
11. Scope of LQ Executive Order No. 9 (“EO 9”).
Under EO 9, section 2(c), as amended on 03/23/21 through termination of the order on 09/22/21, did STVR-permit-holding owners or non-paying guests of said owners who amplified sound outside on STVR-permitted properties need to prove to Code Compliance, city-contracted security officers, or sheriff’s officers that said owners or non-paying guests were in fact owners or non-paying guests using or occupying STVR-permitted properties to avoid penalty for amplifying sound on STVR-permitted properties? a. By what means was ownership or non-paying guest status required to be (or actually) proved?
12. Scope of LQ Executive Order No. 10 (“EO 10”).
Did EO 10, ordered on 08/04/20 (including subsequent modifications) imposing a moratorium on processing any new applications for STVRs apply to applications for renewal of STVR permits? For example, if an STVR permit holder submitted an application to renew their STVR permit in compliance with 3.25 of the LQMC in November 2020, would that owner’s application constitute a new application subject to the moratorium? a. If not, did staff always process all applications for renewal of STVR permits that were submitted to the city in compliance with chapter 3.25 of the LQMC? b. At any point prior to EO 10, did the city send STVR-permit-holders STVR permit renewal notifications at or near the expiration of existing STVR permits? c. After 08/04/20, did the city ever not send STVR permit renewal notifications and/or disengage or otherwise decline to use any automated renewal notification system for any period of time?
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 7 13. Scope of LQMC 9.100.210 sections B, C, and E; LQMC 11.08.040.
Is sound from pool equipment, landscaping equipment, or children’s laugher/shouting/crying sound that can give rise to a violation of LQMC? Or are those sounds exempt? a. If such sounds are within the above-mentioned code sections, is the city pursuing any program that involves installation of monitoring devices to enforce compliance against property owners who do not hold STVR permits? If so, please explain. i. If not, does the city currently intend to pursue a program that involves noise and occupancy monitoring devices to enforce compliance only against property owners who hold STVR permits?
14. Scope of LQMC 3.28.
Does a person who, within the city, uses an internet-based application or website (e.g., eBay, OfferUp, Nextdoor, Etsy, Craigslist) to sell goods (e.g., electronics, household items, art) need to comply with chapter 3.28? Do they need a business license? a. If so, do they need to identify their license on their listings? b. Do they need to collect any tax?
c. In the above-mentioned context of online sales, is the city monitoring compliance and enforcing chapter 3.28 of the code? If so, please explain how, including relevant supporting data like any use of compliance vendors and number of citations issued.
Respectfully,
Andrew Castro
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Exhibit A
Exhibit A
Scope of Services
1. Short Term Rental Service. Client desires to engage Deckard to use the Platform for short-term rentals (" STRs") on all identifiable properties within the Designated Geography based upon publicly available data and such other data relevant to the Designated Geography to be provided to Deckard by Client ( the "Reports"). The Reports shall at a minimum:
1.1. How many STRs are currently active in the Designated Geography;
1.2. The aggregate revenue from actively listed bookings;
1.3. The average number of nights booked per reservation;
1.4. The platforms used by STR hosts;
1.5. Average daily rates;
1.6. Booking trends during the Reporting Period;
1.7. Identify, by address, the following violations of STR ordinances within the Designated Geography;
1.7.1. Listings or advertisements that do not include an STR permit number;
1.7.2. Listings or advertisements that represent or offer occupancy in excess of the occupancy maximums in the Designated
Geography; and
1.7.3. Properties advertised as STRs that are only permitted as longterm rentals;
1.8. Identify the actively listed STRs by month and address;
1.9. The total number of properties actively listed in the Designated Geography each month during the Reporting Period;
1.10. List the property owners; and
1.11. List the permit history of each property offering STRs in the Designated Geography.
1.12. Tracking of Home Sales for properties formerly offering STRs;
1.13. Other services as requested by the City for Special Projects;
2. Deckard to provide Client additional interactive software for management of citations and license suspensions within the first 90 days of the Agreement.
Client to provide Deckard with requirements and periodic feedback.
3. Designated Geography. City of La Quinta, CA
4. Reporting Period. Ongoing
5. Frequency. Deckard will deliver the Reports on a daily basis and make the reports directly available through the Rentalscape platform.
Appendix 1 - Excerpt from Deckard Technologies, Inc. Contract with City CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Exhibit A
Task 1: Detailed description of the methodology of the vendor' s STVR monitoring services. A description of the tools used to discover new unregistered STVR properties should be included.
The entire expert LODGINGRevs team is available as a resource for City staff. We couple our experience with our powerful solution to deliver short-term vacation rental regulation compliance rates above 90%, creating responsive & safer communities.
Implementing the LODGINGRevs solution provides City staff with readily available live data dashboards and property status insight. The community gains proactive engagement and adherence to policies & regulations. Our identification, reconciliation, and notifications are leveraged for targeted enforcement. The processes and systems that are deployed to track compliance statuses create the greatest opportunity to increase compliance and result in compliance rates as high as 98. 5%.
Monitoring Short Term Vacation Rentals
Our platform will process listings from 31 different sites, including the elusive Craigslist. While there are another —25 major sites available on the internet that offer STVR bookings, these sites are international listings exclusively and as our focus is currently on compliance in the United States, we do not currently process these sites. LODGINGRevs processes data twice a week, and all listing compliance statuses are updated each week so that we can issue timely Notifications as often as weekly.
Once our system imports all listings, the data is either updated on existing listings, or new records are inserted into our database for each client. The system then performs unique jobs for each client to assist our team in matching listings to unique property records. For example, one job searches the text in the title and description of an advertisement against the list of condominium complexes for that client and pulls out specific unit numbers as well. Please see the next section, which describes our Accurate Parcel Identification process.
LODGINGRevs processes advertisement data twice each week from all thirty platforms for our clients. We time this frequency to ensure that data is processed no longer than three days apart. However, we have worked closely with clients to also ensure that we run the listings at the most opportune time to capture new evasive rentals. For example, currently, our listings are processed on Tuesday and Friday mornings. The Saturday morning process helps ensure we capture the rentals who list only on the weekend.
Accurately Identifying Parcels for Each Ad Listing
Through a blend of automation and expert review, LODGINGRevs has the tools and knowledge to accurately match advertisements to properties. We have successfully completed similar scale identification census for Maui County, who had 18,000 listings when we first started our contract. Maui now has close to 32, 000 active listings. Not only have we completed a large scale identification census, but we are experts in the nuances of parcel data and have enhanced the LODGINGRevs system to include features specifically applicable the specific needs of La Quinta.
Exhibit A
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO Appendix 2 - Excerpt from GovOs, Inc. Contract with City MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS LODGINGRevs staff have experience with the tough to identify properties. In Maui, we frequently see advertisements with just a few photos, and only one of them being of the outside of the house. Our first step in tackling the property matching, and is something that we do on all listings, is to review the reverse geocode address. When the property owner creates their listing, they make a " pinpoint" where they say their property is located. When we bring the listing into our system, we take the longitude and latitude of that pinpoint and come up with an address of where we think the property is located. On the screenshot below, the Advertised Street Address is the reverse geo code address ( from the property owner), and the Business Address is the confirmed address ( confirmed by our team.) The reverse geocode address and confirmed address are just a few houses off:
An important thing to consider is that in addition to identifying the correct property, the ownership records need to be up to date so that the correct owner is notified. LODGINGRevs updates ownership records monthly, and in the case of the County of Maui, does so with no City staff time. The monthly update ensures that no time is wasted by incorrectly notifying the previous owner.
The project will be assigned a conversion manager who will work with City staff on the data and compliance requirements. There is no learning curve with our team as we have extensive experience with all aspects of parcel data and property review.
Task 2: Detailed description of how the vendor can effectively monitor existing STVRP properties for monthly TOT remittance, expired City Business Licenses and/ or City Short Term Rental Permits. Vendor will need to provide a description of the tools or methodology that will be used to attain 90 % to 95% compliance.
Monitoring Monthly STVRPs TOT Remittance
The system keeps remittance and delinquency top of mind for City staff. We have all transactions stored within the specific business information, and we have multiple reports to identify TOT remitters and delinquent accounts.
The assessment reconciliation report sample below displays the filers according to the parameters chosen. Staff can also click directly into the completed TOT remittance form and the receipt.
Completed in the peritad T AUOUSt - -_-
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008078 5190948 5'. 07320 5081752 h1y 2 1 2 Sales Tax- Assessment Completed ACH $ 1. 81 Col oradv W age Credit
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012636 5191020
Results 1 - 9 of 9
012636 5191020 C- eated By pe- iod Due Deposot Cempieted By iabirty Date Issued Daze Closed Data = imil Return
08./ 12,/ 19 Tyler 08/ 12/ 19 08/ 23.%19 08/ 12;' 19 08/ 12/ 19 Tyler 2017- 01- 26 2017- 01- 26 012636 5191024
012636 5191006
08/ 09/ 19 Haleigh 07/ 31/ 19 08/ 11! 19 08/ 09/ 19 08/ 09/ 19 Haleigh L 08/ 09,/ 19 Haleigh 08./09,/ 19 08,/20/ 19 08; 09,/19 08/ 09/ 19 Haleigh 2017- 01- 26 2017- 01- 26 L 08/ 09/ 19 Haleigh 08/ 09/ 19 08/ 20/ 19 08/ 09/ 19 08i09/ 19 Haleigh 2017- 01- 26 2017- 01- 26 08/ 09/ 19 Hale- gh 08,' 09/ 19 081% 20.! 19 08y109/ 19 38/ 09/ 19 Hale gh 2017- 01- 26 2017- 01- 26 2- Exhibit A
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Our Delinquency System ( to
the right) populates
accounts that are delinquent
in TOT remittance and/ or
business license tasks. With
this report ( right) you can
also close a business if they
are no longer active or
responsive and also send out
email notifications right
from within the report.
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Account Balance Pending .. Show No Active Show
Account Balance Completed 4. Open
Tax 01/
01j2D00 07/ 14/ 2019 Per
Tax Date of Last Transaction Paid Sales
Tax, Due: 2018- 12-20, Completed: 2018-12-19 Sales
and Utilities Tax Form (Dec 2018) Due: 01-22- 2019 Accommodations Tax , Due: 2018- 12-20, Completed: 2018- 12- 19 Accommodations Tax ;Dec 2018) Due: 01- 22- 2019 Payment, Due: 2019- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 19 Accommodations Tax, Due: 2018- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 20 Accommodations Tax (Dec 2019) Due: 01- 22- 2019 Sales Tax, Due: 2018- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 20 Sales
and Utilities Tax Form ; Dec 2013) Due: 01- 22- 2019 Payment, Due: 2019- 12-20, Completed: 2018-12-20 Sales Tax, Due: 2016- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 20 Accommodations Tax (Dec 2019) Due: 01- 22- 2019 Accommodations Tax , Due: 2018- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 20 Sales and Utilities Tax Form ( Dec 2018) Due: 01- 22- 2019 Payment, Due: 2019- 12- 20, Completed: 2018- 12- 20 Monitoring and Manage City STVRP Permit or Business License Expiration The La Quinta solution includes access to our Site Configuration tools, which are simple and easy to use. Our team sets up the Editing License: Vacation Rental Registration parameters,
but know that your staff can customize theprocess Lfeensestatus for each license, permit orinspection, or just reach out to our Active support staff and our team can do it for you. These tools allow Name our platform tobe nimble tochange with you as new Vacation Rental Registration Ordinances or compliance requirements are necessary. For i Description example, to the right you can see the automation settings Vacation Rental Registration regarding business license and STVR permit expiration and Which worklow should run to renew this license? renewal settings. These settings automatically create the STVRP 11064] Business License - Short Term Rental tasks
for renewals with reminders according tothe custom Does this license Expire? needs
of the City. Also, the delinquency report mentioned Yes • When
does this license expire? above
can filter to open tasks, providing City staff the capability Annually at the end of next year. to filter to delinquent/ expired business licensing and registration Annually atthe end of this year. tasks; which enables direct notifications tobe sent form the Bi- Annually at the end of the year. report. 0 days from Current License Expiration Date Licensing
The
licensing module includes the ability to manage as many licenses as required. We have a jurisdiction that manages fourteen different licenses inthe system. And again, if you decide to legislate anew license in the system in the future, the tools are available todo so quickly. Permitting
In
our platform, permitting and inspections are part of the workflow process required for a business approval of a license. They become part of the required steps for your team to review and collaborate on as you are considering the approval process. Last day of the month of the current expiration date + 1 year? 0 days from today Fleenot==-: the oe.,:d dare Is —al to the f,rst Jake m-- license When should the license renewal process begin? 6D
days before the current license expires. For
renewals, when isthe workflow due? On
xxx ( Month/ Day) after the due date of the renewal workflow. Last day of the month of the current expiration date + 30 _ Days Do you need to set an Occupancy Group forthis license? Yes. • No. Occupancy
Group Choices: A3 " A4 X Add
Choice: Code:
Name:
Description:
Add
Exhibit
APage
3of 11
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Compliance Process Insight
The City of La Quinta LODGINGRevs solution will utilize proprietary data mining technology to extract all relevant data for short- term vacation rental listings from listing platforms and populate the data as listing records within the LODGINGRevs system. We reverse geocode the address from each listing across all major STVR websites and crossreference that with our records and City records to ensure the address of the property is accurate as well as the contact information for the owner/ manager of that property
new listing sample to the right). April
Our identification rate for listings with our existing
clients is 98%. For that remaining 2% we work with the
jurisdiction to use utility records and other means to
identify contact information for the owner of the
property for each listing.
All listings have their own page in our system where you can view audit logs, notes, compliance status,
notifications sent and click through to the advertisement associated with that property.
Your dashboard will be on a customized
URL with all of the data and functions you
need to monitor compliance ( sample to
the right), and send notifications. With a
filterable map, you can see properties
and/ or listings by various compliance
types and click through to the page for
each listing or property. Reports are all
there for you to view and customize.
Comoliant
Management Company
AlrBnB FlipKey VRBO Other Total
Total Advertisements 135 33 59 20 247
Unique Properties 63 23 48 18 152
New Advertisements 3 8 4 16 31
New Properties 2 6 4 11 22
Removed 16 0
Advertisements
Removed Prooertles 9 0
Outreach and Review Status
Subtotal Compliant, Managed or Revenue Neutral
12 14 42
3 9 19
VRBO FllpKey AtrBnB Other All Properties
860 600 496 1, 221 3, 177 83. 72 788
73 55 187 32 347 9. 14 144
5 6 21 83 115 1 •-• 103
938 661 704 1, 336 3, 639 95. 89
8 6 4 8 26 0
2 0 25 0 27 1
38 3 56 6 103 2 - i 29
You will have access to the database of all
Subtotal Non -Compliant 46 9 85 14 156 4. 11
short-term vacation rental ads and the
TOTAL 986 670 789 1. 350 3, 795 100. 00
connected property data via a login to the
No compliance status 0 0 0
system to use our intuitive click through
design to view and pull any reports,
11 0 23
including click through capability to read audit logging, notes, photos, maps, links to listings, etc. Outreach to all properties can be done through our customized notification system with The City of La Quinta branded. The Notification Module ( detailed on page 28) enables to City to have unlimited notification templates, so that we can clearly communicate to property owners in various states of compliance for you.
Our system runs - 1vidence _- anfuon all listings for your community each week. The evidence includes all text on the page ( including items under "show more' links), every single page of reviews and every single photo. Evidence is archived on our server, and is easily accessible through our archive menu which is stored on our secure server. All data is backed up twice daily on our server, including one back up copy in an offsite location — providing you with complete redundancy.
Your team can even export an entire batch of PDF' s for a single property or date range toprovide toyour attorney' s office or for other compliance use outside our system. In addition, our Listing Tracker runs every five minutes on non - compliant properties. This automated tool finds those problematic property owners who may list their advertisement on Friday night to capture abooking, and remove it by Monday morning when your staff is in the office. The minute our Listing Tracker sees the listing is active, we capture evidence on the listing and store itin our system as a PDF with a time and date stamp of when we saw the active listing. This evidence, coupled with the Listing Tracker tothe minute technology, is a crucial tool in identifying, monitoring, notifying anddocumenting court evidence toproblematic properties that claim they are not renting their home. Exhibit A Page
4of 11
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Task 3A: Detailed description of the vendor' s compliance program Our distinctive process and services create the environment necessary to achieve the highest possible compliance rate.
Our refined process and ever enhancing services start with our delivery of a customized and branded LODGINGRevs compliance website. We will implement technology to build, update, and maintain the City of La Quinta' s short- term STVR inventory database. The compliance parameters established during our collaborative kickoff meeting, will be defined and implemented in our compliance process. The City' s authorized users are provided with unlimited access and unlimited user licenses to the dashboard, reporting, and all other aspects of the system. Our system and our expert review team reconcile all discovered ad listings to the TMK parcel numbers, determination of allowed and prohibited land use zones, and property owner/ manager contact information.
The compliance services provide the necessary tracking and enforcement documentation of all ad listings and all properties. The evidence capture system will capture all ad listing photos, descriptions, reviews, and owner information from advertisements and put it into an archived PDF format with a capture time & date stamp for non -compliant ad listings. This documentation feature is leveraged with our listing tracker solution; where the system tracks, every 10 minutes, advertisements that are removed and re -activated, and then creates the evidence capture to archive and document these properties. These features combine to identify and document specific short-term vacation rental operators that are trying to avoid detection and obtain bookings.
Targeted notification solutions are a key to achieving the highest compliance rates possible, and this is achieved through our notifications module that contains " smart fields." Through our compliance process and multistage status reports our team or City staff can mail or email ( if we have the e- mail address from the permit records) property owners/ managers to address the specific problem or task that is resulting in non- compliance. These notifications are completely customized to the City' s language and branding Notification Module: Our Notification System allows each destination to have an unlimited number of Notification Templates. The tool provides an easy to use way to write notices, much like any word processing application and
allows you to insert our " smart fields" where appropriate.
Don' t worry though — our team creates the Notification templates for you, but the tool is easy to use if you ever want to make an adjustment yourself.
The combined power of our unique compliance statuses and Notification Templates allows our team to generate
notifications, on your desired frequency, with custom
language specific to the deficiency for each property. So, if a property is only missing the Business License, they can receive a Notification that provides that deficiency and instructions on how to become licensed. If another property is advertising 1 night minimum stays and are in a zone that requires a minimum of 3 night turnovers, their letter can include those specific issues.
Notice Delivery Methods: Notifications can be delivered either via email or via mail upon registration.
Yxltrw V'•agaLZ ftol +fv Val- Nrr, L'wir.. Edit Add Na. Tmplate Name
Register for MR- New Business
aft Fl"
Town of Mountain Village- License Requirement for Vacation Rental active
ad e ess
Field TV"
AddressCheck
advertlsedllrense
Aavemiaenent u.' Advertisement Compliance Status Id
advertlsenn id
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advert lsementsta rtda to
adve rtlsementstatu sid
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The Town of Mountain Village requires that all advertised short term rental obtain a business license. You can obtain your license online at [ 56usiness_ center_url]. After registering your email and selecting a password, you will be prompted to utilize the following information to link to your property:
Account Number: ( ibusiness_accountnumber]
Activation Cade: [ sbusiness_ code]
Once you obtain an active license, you are required to include the license number on all advertisements per Town Ordlnanct,
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our team at supoort0loegingrevs. 00m. dlsclalmer]
Save Close
Exhibit A
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Email Delivery: Emails are
delivered automatically by our
integrated email system. The
Notifications Archive can be
viewed 1) by property, 2) by
listing or 3) in aggregate on the
Notifications report. All views
allow you to see not only when
the email was delivered but
also when the email user
opened the email. Email
notices can also be delivered to
more than one user per property.
Notifications
Status ui Type Bout
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Date Cleated Date Sant
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Note that with our integrated registration, licensing and tax collection system, every user first enters an email address in order to gain access to the system. This provides us with a valid email for every property user for notification delivery.
Paper Delivery: Notices can also be mailed. Simply print the single batch of PDF' s that our system produces. We can also help you utilize a third party mailing house by transmitting the PDF to them for printing & mailing.
Support: In addition, our Notifications can include the contact information for our support team as well as your staff.
Our team helps over 50, 000 users nationally and we can assist with the initial questions from your owner or managers if you' d like. Our average response time for support questions is 37 minutes and 88% of tickets are resolved on the first contact since our experts know how to help them quickly! As your records custodian, we believe it is paramount that you have on demand access to marketing and operational documentation of all ad listing and property data. Our staff user interface and intuitive reporting tools are the best in the industry. We strive to not only provide the best documentation with cutting edge technology and process, but to also achieve ease of use for City staff.
Evidence Capture —Available 24/ 7
The LODGINGRevs evidence capture system will automatically capture screenshots of all active short-term vacation rental listings operating within the City. These ad listing screenshots create a full page PDF that includes all data posted in the ad listing, including the sections where it is necessary to " click for more information." The PDF that is created and stored in our system includes all posted information without any cut offs. Our system runs evidence capture on all listings for your community each week. The listing " URL" and time and date is stamped on each evidence PDF allows you to determine the dates their advertisement was active. You can also filter to a particular property and export all evidence for that property into a single PDF.
The evidence includes all text on the page ( including items under " show more" links), every single page of reviews and every single photo. Below, you can see an excerpt of 5 of the photos we captured in the PDF Evidence Capture for a particular property on May 7th, 2019 at 7: 22: 18 PM. All of the 15 photos are archived in a single PDF for proof of rental if ever needed by your staff. You' ll also see an excerpt for the same property of the reviews that we capture in the PDF of the evidence capture. The PDF contains all 45 reviews in this single PDF, again for proof of rental activity.
All evidence is archived on our server, and is easily accessible through our archive menu. You can even export an entire batch of PDF' s for a single property or date range to provide to your attorney' s office or for other compliance use outside our system. a tull PDF example of our evidence capture documentation hera.
Exhibit A
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS Listing Tracker
Our Listing Tracker is a service that leverages the evidence capture. It also runs every 10 minutes on non -compliant properties so we can capture Evidence as soon as one of these properties has an active listing, unless the evidence was already captured within the last 24 hours. As shown below, you can filter to include notifications previously sent — our clients find this really helpful if a property has been sent a " cease & desist" letter to stop renting, but our evidence is showing that they are still advertising.
E Capture Tracker
Search Unk Status Good
Batch Created Link Date
Before Status JU
Template
Has Capture YES ( j
6 of Notifications Sent Notifications Date
RIM
After Status SelrCtt
I_:. Z 3 4 7 I... 1$ 7Next
D Adverbsement( Adv) 1D RPS Number Before Comp Status Id Ayer Comp Status 10 City state County Batch Id Batch Created t. rk = noes LSk LMM Capture Process M 2389060 6037302 18- 0002129 Listing Removed Listing Reactivated Hana HI Maui County 2507 2019- 04- 21 22: 10: 03 good 2019- 04- 21 22: 15: 46 3646 2389072 6038030 18- 0002179 Listing Removed Listing Reactivated Lahaina HI Maul County 2507 2019- 04- 21 22: 10: 03 good 2019- 04- 21 22: 16: 45 3647 2309118 5052008 16- 0001667 Listing Removed Listing Reactivated Lahaina HI Maul County 2507 2019- 04- 21 22: 10: 03 good 2019- DA- 21 22: 20: 48 3648 2389128 6052674 18- 0001682 Listing Removed Listing Reactivated Wailuku HI Maul County 2507 2019- 04- 21 22: 10: 03 good 2019- 04- 21 22: 22: 09 3649 2368100 6009366 18- 0001882 Listing Removed Listing Reactivated Wailuku HI Maul County 2506 2019- 04- 21 21: 10: 03 good 2019- 04- 21 21: 13: 27 3642 2388170 6038848 18- 0001783 t) s31nd Ranmved Listlna Reactivated Lnhalna HI Maul County 2506 2019- 04- 21 21: 10: 03 000d 2019- 04- 21 21: 18: 08 3643 We also track all dates that a listing was active
and allow you to report on this for disputes
about rental activity. For example, to the right,
you can see that this property has 4 active
listings and you can see all the dates that we
found those listings in the month of April. We
provide this data in an easy to export format for
court reporting documentation, and can show
more than 6 months of capture dates as well.
Details Owner / Manager ( 1) Advertisement( 4) Rental Activity ( 3) Notes( 4) N Registration Number [ 017574] : Etta Place Too # 110
Adv 10 = URL eompllance Steozs Start Das
Cp '
O t
uxv- 4 mte
6088264 https:!/ www. 600king. co m/ hotel/ us/ etta- Outreach- i place- too- 130. en- gh. html License Not
posted
6022116 https:// vmw. tripz. com/ vacation- Compliant 11- 01- D4- 13- 2018 2018- 04- 13, 2010- 04- 13 L rentals/ usa/ colorado/ telluride/ ski- inski- out- 2017 2nd- floor- n ewly- remodel ed- s kl Co ndo1012662
2656610 https:// w Mpkey rom/ properties/ 9084419/ Compliant 11- 01- D4- 13- 2018 2018- 04- 13, 2018- 04- 13, 2017 2018- 04- 13, 2018- 04- 13 7
2656520 https:// www. vrbo. com/ 1189438 Compliant 10- 25- 04- 13- 201B 2018- 04- 13, 2018- 04- 13 L 2017
Task 3B-: Two Formal Notices, initial contact and follow- up The notification module is a defining example of our best practice efficiencies as we target specific compliance statuses and direct the STVRP to an already established account with outlined tasks. The following two pages have the initial contact and follow- up notification samples. Note that the City of La Quinta letters would be specific to your language and action items.
Exhibit A
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT ANDREW CASTRO MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - EXECUTIVE ORDERS & LQ MUNICIPAL CODE RE: STVRS 1 From: Lyola Torres
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 1:26 PM
To: City Clerk Mail
Subject: STVR unfairness concerns
** EXTERNAL: This message originated outside of the City of La Quinta. Please use proper judgement and caution when opening attachments, clicking links or responding to requests for information. ** Dear City Council/To whom it may concern,
I am writing to address the unfairness that is taking place with STVR in the city of La Quinta. I bought my house in a non HOA community in La Quinta almost 6 years ago. At that time it was my plan to one day be able to rent it out short term for additional income. To my understanding, after multiple noise and other STVR complaints in 2020 the moratorium was put in to effect not allowing those of us who live here full time the opportunity to bring in additional income that STVR's allow. While I understand that the complaints had increased, the offenders involved should be the ones getting penalized with fines and no permit renewals. While the rest of us should be afforded the opportunity to be part of the STVR business here in La Quinta. This should not be treated as a 1 rule fixes all situation.
I would love to be part of the conversation going forward to realize the steps that need to be taken so that we are able to keep La Quinta beautiful and allow visitors to share in our beautiful city. All while generating important revenue that the city needs to remain The Gem Of The Desert. ᤻᤹᤺
Thank you for your time.
Please feel free to contact me with any information regarding these concerns.
Lyola Torres
CITY COUNCIL MEETING - JANUARY 18, 2022 - PUBLIC COMMENTS BY RESIDENT LYOLA TORRES
MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA - IN SUPPORT OF STVRS