GARFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Some homeowners say officials in northwest Michigan are being shortsighted in banning them from renting out their properties as cottages, saying it isn’t good for tourism and it hurts them financially.
“I’ve pleaded with this area to realize this is a sustainable, needed industry for our area, which is based on tourism,” Kelly Kazmierski told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Kazmierski and her husband Mike bought a house overlooking Silver Lake in Garfield Township two years ago for $279,000 and invested $60,000 in renovations, planning to rent it for $2,900 a week. But a cease-and-desist letter that appeared on their door last July forced the Kazmierskis to abandon vacation rental operations and refund $40,000 to people who had paid to stay at the cottage.
Garfield Township and other residential areas near Traverse City have banned short-term rentals — anything less than 30 days — for years. Housing shortages caused the township to start cracking down last year.
“When we bought the property we had no reason to believe we couldn’t rent it out,” Kelly Kazmierski said. “We received our letter July 6 and had 10 days to comply.”
She has become a familiar voice at Garfield Township meetings for more than 40 short-term rental owners.
“Everybody that owns these rentals are just trying to make it work right now,” Kelly Kazmierski said. “A handful are just renting and hoping they don’t get caught.”
She and others say allowing home rentals would help the tourism industry.
“There’s a real economic benefit to short-term rentals,” said Kim Pontius, executive vice president of the Traverse Area Association of Realtors. “The rental price does jump because of high demand, but it brings a lot of money to local business.”
But Fife Lake resident Rene Bills-Walls, 53, said skyrocketing rents keep her from moving.
“Tourism really keeps Fife Lake going, but the rent is atrocious,” Bills-Walls said. “I can’t even move anywhere and where we live now feels like a box.”
Cheri Garvin, housing locator at Northwest Michigan Continuum of Care, said seasonal prices can put low-income renters in tents or on the streets during summer. The organization’s homeless shelter hotline received 188 calls this June, a 38 percent jump from May.
The Kazmierskis say they believe rental regulations and taxing short-term rentals are the answer.
“The township should regulate the industry so people do pay those taxes or regulatory fees,” Mike Kazmierski said.
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