Short-term rentals are changing Fort Worth neighborhoods - and not for the better | Opinion
Others’ rights
Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors President Paul Epperley’s belief that prohibiting short-term rentals devastates property values is absurd. (April 16, 15A, “Fort Worth’s short-term rental ban hurts property values”)
No one wants to purchase a house in a residential neighborhood only to have a motel with strange people constantly coming and going next to them. It would harm values because more homes would be on the market if not for rentals. Is it right for major corporations to purchase large numbers of homes and turn them into short-term rentals?
As for property rights, should I be allowed to start an auto repair business at my home? Or a “family” bar? How about a pet day care?
The city is doing the right thing. But I can see why Epperley, as a real estate agent, would be against restrictions that might hurt sales and how rising prices and rising prices from home shortages caused in part by short-term rentals help his commission.
- Robert Downey, Fort Worth
We’re out
We bought a Fort Worth home so we could stay in Texas about five months a year. To help pay the bills, we chose to do short-term rentals.
The city and Denton and Tarrant counties have made it cost prohibitive to continue to own. We pay taxes in both counties, and the total bill is up more than $4,000 since we bought the house in 2020. Now, we can no longer rent out our home.
Our neighbors loved interacting with our renters. Our home was kept up, and we thoroughly vetted our guests.
In my neighborhood, there are lots of long-term rentals. You can tell because lawns aren’t mowed, there’s trash in yards and fences are falling down. Our homeowners association tries to get landlords to make corrections, but many ignore the property once it’s rented.
Fort Worth just lost a great family and the income we brought to the community.
- Janel Simonson, Fort Worth
Few benefits
The recent column on short-term rentals suggests a disconnect with many homeowners, real estate professionals and data-backed research. Several independent studies have shown that these rentals reduce the availability of housing for families, contribute to rising property taxes, increase neighborhood crime and offer minimal — if any — net economic benefit to local communities.
Short-term rentals do not promote thriving communities, but rather fracture them.
Rather than promoting misleading narratives, the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors could better serve the public by requiring agents to disclose the presence of rentals to potential homebuyers. This would help protect buyers and strengthen trust in the profession.
- Andrew Muras, co-founder, TX Neighborhood Coalition, Grapevine
Heavy traffic
I live in a neighborhood that is zoned for single-family homes. In the early 1990s, one house here was allowed to operate as a bed and breakfast as long as the owners lived on the property. A few years ago, people started arriving at the house, but the owners had moved to another home. Somehow, they had gotten a variance for the house to be zoned as a commercial property.
They can sleep 24 guests and frequently do. They host weddings and all sorts of parties. Traffic is a nightmare, as guests park on both sides of the street.
There are many reasons to support short-term rentals, but they should be in areas zoned for commercial use
- Karen Walters, Fort Worth
Clean water
Thousands of Fort Worth residents unknowingly consume toxic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water — chemicals that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s safe limits.
These contaminants are linked to cancer, immune dysfunction and liver damage. They demand urgent regulation. Low-income communities, unable to afford alternatives, suffer the most significant impacts.
Fort Worth must swiftly implement advanced filtration technologies and hold industrial polluters accountable. Some may argue that these measures are costly, but the price of inaction is far higher in terms of long-term health consequences.
- Bhagyashree Nitin Rane, Fort Worth
Health hazard
My employer chose to move our health insurance to Blue Cross Blue Shield for 2025. I had a narrow window in November to choose between two plans and cannot change except in the case of major life events such as a birth, death or divorce. My employer can’t make changes either. But Blue Cross Blue Shield can decide to move an entire hospital network out of the plan and notify my employer and me on the day it happens.
That’s not good business. That is fraud.
- Nate Bishop, Benbrook