Partner Dan Campbell and Associate Ellen Davis of the firm’s Phoenix office, obtained a summary judgement shutting down a vacation rental.

Despite CC&Rs which provided that no dwelling unit may be used as a rental, the defendant advertised the 5 bedroom home as a rental on VRBO, Airbnb, ByOwner, and rented it most weekends in an otherwise quiet rural area outside of Flagstaff.  KNCH filed and won a motion for summary judgment.  The Defendants argued that an intermittent vacation rental was not really a rental, but the judge disagreed.  The court found that it was a prohibited use, apparently swayed by the fact that the County assessed the property as a rental, the defendants paid transaction privilege tax, and the neighbors made a convincing showing of how significantly the rentals affected them.

Internet vacation rentals appear to some to be an attractive way to earn money, but they often violate the CC&Rs and are a nuisance to the neighbors who have to put up with the late night arrivals, parties, traffic, noise and general disruption.   Living next to a vacation rental is like living next to an unsupervised motel.  In essence, one neighbor was selling the whole neighborhood’s peace and quiet without their consent.