PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Safety concerns stemming from short-term weekend renters have led many cities in South Florida to crack down on such rentals.
The city of Miami Beach largely prohibits this type of rental, but now the problem is appearing in unexpected communities. And cities may have limited options to regulate the rentals.
"... Would have never thought in the Pembroke Pines, you know, area, we would have what we did," neighbor Jose de Varona told Local 10 News investigative reporter Amy Viteri.
He's one of several neighbors in the gated Malibu Pointe subdivision in Pembroke Pines' Silver Lakes community who say short-term renters have, at times, turned their quiet street into a crime scene.
"My property had been all destroyed," de Varona said. "People throwing up all over the place, towels being thrown, beer bottles being picked up."
From June to October, Local 10 News found dozens of police calls for service to a home on N.W. 15th Lane. A June 6 police report described an argument in which one man was armed with a knife, the other with a bottle.
One neighbor, who didn't want to give her name, said the men were going after each other with a knife. The people involved told investigating officers they were visiting from Mississippi and had rented the home to attend a graduation.
De Varona said neighbors reached out to the homeowners association and voiced their concerns.
"What needs to happen here in order for something to be done for the neighbors? Does a shooting have to happen?" he said. "Sure enough, about a month later, two months later, we had a shooting over here."
On Sept. 7, Pembroke Pines police said someone shot a 16-year-old boy and he was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
"Our neighbors next door heard shots fired, and that's when the whole incident with the young kid getting shot in the stomach in the backyard," one female neighbor said.
De Varona said his children had played outside until that evening, and the incident frightened many families.
Neighbors contacted their property management company. When Local 10 News went to Pines Property Management in person after calls and emails went unreturned, a representative told us they do not comment on open investigations.
"Nothing would be done," complained one homeowner. "He would pay the fine and that was it. They would turn a blind eye."
Local 10 News' Amy Viteri went to the home in question and spoke to the owner, Charlie Ramirez, who was doing work inside. He said he had leased the house to a renter who had then illegally sublet it without Ramirez's knowledge.
But police reports show incidents occurring at the house after Ramirez claimed he had removed the tenant, and neighbors said they believe he knew what was going on. Ramirez would not say to whom he had rented the property, but neighbors said it was a company that he had hired to lease it out on his behalf.
Neighbors told Local 10 News that the owner, Ramirez, had a responsibility to know what was going on at his property.
In Pembroke Pines, however, there is no law against renting short term. In the course of reporting on this story, the city attorney for Pembroke Pines sent Local 10 News a memo pointing to Florida law that prevents local cities from banning such rentals. It's a restriction that has tied the hands of city officials and worried residents, including de Varona.
"Our kids are all playing out in the area and we don't want to be the next victims," he said.
Ramirez told Viteri he was renovating the house to either sell or rent again, but said he would never allow something like this to happen again.
Many short-term rental websites leave it up to the property owner to know the regulations in their own community and homeowners association. Airbnb Inc. told Local 10 News its website provides a list of major cities and restrictions related to rentals as a reference.