Dallas Bans Short-Term Rentals in Single-Family Areas

Short-term rentals will no longer be allowed in single-family neighborhoods in Dallas, but they may remain in multi-family dwellings and commercial zones with added restrictions.

The Dallas City Council voted 12-3 June 14 on the issue after five hours of public comment, council deliberation, and guidance from staff.

The new rules:

• Properties must be licensed to be STRs.
• Rentals on Airbnb, Vrbo, and other platforms are banned in single-family neighborhoods.
• Properties must have off-street parking.
• STRs may continue in multi-family zones.

The City Council also unanimously voted (13-0) to require properties to register with the city, pay related fees and taxes, follow occupancy and noise limits, and have a contact within an hour of STR properties to address emergencies. A council committee must review these regulations by June 2025.

More than 50 community members addressed the city council, with more than half in support of the City Plan Commission-backed option known as the “Keep It Simple Solution” — a.k.a. the KISS option.

One of many wearing a “Homes Not Hotels” T-shirt, Olive Talley, spoke in opposition of short-term rentals in neighborhoods.

“We’re fighting to preserve housing and homes and neighborhoods,” Talley said. “(STR operators) are fighting to commercialize and convert homes into hotel businesses.”

Another community member, Lisa Sievers, owns and operates short-term rentals and said the city can control these properties through enforcement.

“Zoning STRs out of residential areas is not going to create better neighbors or better neighborhoods,” Sievers said. “Why do we want to burden our Dallas taxpayers with an enormous enforcement expense which will still not resolve the party-house problem?”

During council deliberation, District 13’s Gay Donnell Willis and District 11’s Jaynie Schultz spoke on the issue. 

Willis said the issue has been “floating for years,” and the industry uses community resources such as code enforcement, sanitation, parking enforcement, the police and fire departments, and more.

“We have watched STRs systematically dismantle the one thing we all hope to create — strong neighborhoods that together make Dallas a city greater than the sum of its parts,” Willis said.

Of 1,132 people who submitted a survey to Schultz, 72% voted that there should be no STRs in single-family neighborhoods. She said she was personally against the KISS option but voted in favor due to constituent support.

“In the nine years of working with residents in District 11, I’ve never had such consistently overwhelming demand for a vote,” Schultz said. 

Council members Chad West, Casey Thomas, and Jaime Resendez voted against.

“I don’t think it will stand up in federal court and there’s a strong chance the state legislature will pass laws … overturning STR bans,” West said. “Either situation will put us right back where we are today with unchecked, problematic short-term rentals in our neighborhoods.”