Plano to Consider Short-Term Rental Regulations Weeks After Brothel Bust

Plano city council members will once again consider regulations of short-term rental properties Monday night just over two weeks after an alleged sex trafficking ring was broken up at a rental home.

Popular sites like Airbnb and VRBO make rentals available for as little as one night and allow homes to be operated, in essence, like a hotel.

But the city of Plano is among many North Texas communities that do not specifically regulate the rentals.

The current proposal before city council members, who will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, would require short-term rental property owners to register with the city. That would help city officials to ensure that the property owner enforces occupancy and other rules at the rentals, and that the owner can be contacted directly by police or code enforcement when violations do occur.

According to a presentation to council members back in July, there were nearly 50 official complaints made about 23 short-term rental properties in Plano between January and May of this year. Nearly half of those complaints, which range from noise violations, parties, and drug or alcohol use, stemmed from just six specific “problem properties.”

On September 23, investigators from the Plano and Dallas police departments executed a search warrant at a home on Las Palmas Lane after multiple tips came in about an alleged sex trafficking ring being operated out of the house.

Police arrested two women, one for promotion of prostitution and the other for an outstanding assault warrant, and questioned and released several other women who were believed to be victims of the sex trafficking ring.