Bill's Bountiful Blog

May I keep you posted on my thoughts, ideas, observations, and silliness?. Am I serious? Is it relevant?. Does anyone care? Probably not much.

But in today's age of everyone has something to say, why not me? And who can blame me for jumping into to the pool? For speaking up For laying it out?

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." - Thomas Wiley, Journalist

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Sycophants Invade Vacation Rentals

By Ron Lee
Published: 04/22/24 Topics: Government, Legal, Lodging Management, People, Regulations, Software, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

Vacation Rentals have been around for centuries often called by many names: lodging, sharing, vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and now short-term-rentals.

It has only been in recent years that cities, counties and homeowner associations have conspired to attack rentals and all without logic, reason or adherence to the bundle of real estate rights codified in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and other laws for 250 years.

Did you know that property rights are the most mentioned right in the Bill of Rights? Because without being able to protect those rights, all other rights can be further trampled on. For example, you can’t have freedom of the press, if government can take away your right to occupy your property.

The reasons for those vicious anti-rental attacks are false and found to be based solely on another age old situation - Xenophobia - the fear of others. The incidence of noise, parking, and even garbage collections are so statistically small as to be non-existent.

Def: Xenophobia [noun]

Aversion or hostility to, disdain for, or fear of strangers.

Synonyms: Bias, Bigotry, Animosity, Classism, Hatred

Now, however, governments have found new sycophants to help them batter responsible private homeowners and, as might be expected, it is none other than Artificial Intelligence software developers taking up the war.

The dictionary points out the threat of these:

Def: Sycophant - [noun]

A self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.

Synonyms: flatterer, fawner, flunky, toady

In the war on property rights, governments are turning to profiteering software soldiers to encourage neighbors to spy on neighbors and to report them for any perceived slight, real or imagined. (Neighbors hating neighbors is nothing new, but now governments are rewarding that hateful conduct.)

One participant in the war on vacation rentals is Deckard Technologies of San Diego, California. Their website, (www.Decard) fosters the idea they are mainly in the business in helping local governments with "tax". But parse their words more closely to learn that Deckard is in the "compliance" business. In other words, governments hire them to control humans.

That makes them sycophants for the same reason court jesters bowed and scraped to kings. It is all for the money. Deckard says governments can fine neighbors using their expensive software to bust them.

With those software contracts costing hundreds of thousands of dollars for cities and counties struggling to balance budgets, those governments will learn that this kind of A.I. ("Awful Intelligence") generated system produces complaints that won’t hold up in criminal court where rules of evidence abide.

And yet counties fall for any pitch that says it won’t cost them anything. Even if they then suspect, and later learn, that the huge cost of such software can never be recovered.

Even if officials admit there is no pay-back for that software, busting people for gossip appeals to government officials who don’t base their decisions on fundamental concepts like property rights.

To see how their xenophobia functions, substitute their words "Vacation Rental" or "Short-Term Rental’ with the names of minority groups to make their rational sound just like what it is, just another form of hate crime.

With apology to the people of south Africa, and the terrible harm they suffered for so many years, it can be seen that segregating vacation rental property owners and guests is used by people who insist on oppressing vacation rental property owners and guests. They steal their rights while allowing others those same rights.

Def: Apartheid [noun]

Rigidly segregating and economically and politically oppressing people.

Synonyms: Segregation, Bigotry, Chauvinism, Injustice, Intolerance

On the Deckard company website, Nick Del Pego CEO claims to be a mathematician, a seasoned corporate senior leader and a U.S. Air Force SpecOps veteran. Isn’t that the service branch who can be called in to attack people with no regrets?

Del Pego and his software soldiers make it easy for neighbors to hate other neighbors who use their Constitutional right to share and rent out their homes.

Plus, his software makes it comfortable for nosey neighbors to report people anonymously, as if they were Peeping Toms. And the penalty for false reporting is - you guessed it - nothing. No liability, no accountability.

In his novel 1984, George Orwell warned about a society where government watched over every little thing done by every little citizen.

And now Del Pego’s Deckard Technologies gets paid to help cities and counties do exactly that.

It must be asked, why would Craig Brown, Greg Rose, Jess Flanagan, Chloe Sasson, Tom Hemmings, Tony Moriarty, Matthew Duggan, Dr. Victor Xie, Loren Vasquez Rivera, Vicki Lane, Dustin Reilich, Stacey Kurtz, Rob Piskorowksi, Dave Brown, Melissa Mijia, Faith Chaza, Dana Lormer, Branden Reese and all the cronies at Deckard agree to help him do it?

Perhaps, they enjoy facilitating gossip and think hate mongering is good. Probably it is that, like everyone else, they just need a job.

Maybe those employees should look for employment in a more reputable industry, where their actions do not deprive others of their basic property rights. There are many worthy causes. How about ending poverty, feeding the poor, volunteering at charities, working to end war, etc.?

Of course, those kinds of jobs don’t pay as well as promoting Deckard’s hateful service.

Author: Ron Lee – Contributor, Vacation Rental Association, Inc.
Blog #: 0989 – 04/22/24

A Storm is Brewing - Lodging Newsletter December 31st, 2019

By Wm, May
Published: 12/31/19 Topics: Government, Lodging Newsletter, Regulations Comments: 0

In case you are unaware, there are storms brewing in the vacation rental world.

The first is the constant drumbeat of government officials to tax, regulate, or even prohibit owners from renting out their homes on a short-term basis.

Having followed the industry for many years, this is nothing new but, the drums are getting more frequent as the number of rental homes increases and as government officials see vacation rentals as a scapegoat for other problems they face.

Their lack of perspective is astounding as they try to stifle the best thing that has come to many communities in decades. Vacation Rentals create jobs and income for geographic areas where employment can be scarce.

Scaring away families who buy second homes, love the community, spend time there and then invite others to use their homes is a terrible disservice to their local economies.

======================================================================

There are many political issues of more importance than Vacation Rentals, but now property owners are finding they must fight to retain the "bundle of rights, that come with real estate ownership; the rights of possession, control, exclusion, enjoyment, and disposition."

Recently, a group of officials from multiple counties met in secret to figure out how to whittle away at that bundle. They want to prohibit or regulate vacation rentals to death, using impossible requirements not required of homes in general.

Immediately after the meeting, counties began imposing moratoriums on vacation rentals, ostensibly to "study the issue." County Council members were duped. Moratoriums are often used to confront new situations, but there is nothing new about vacation rentals.

Even the founding fathers stayed in rented homes on a short-term basis. Officials who did not plan for and reasonably regulate rentals beginning decades ago were not doing their jobs.

Over time, opponents of vacation rentals have concocted many ridiculous reasons when attempting to control their neighbors' property rental rights, such as comments about too many cars, noise, septic systems or xenophobia, "I just don't want people next door that I do not know."

At one review meeting, the county Sheriff testified that there are far more problems with homes occupied by full-time owners and long-term tenants than vacation rentals. In fact, he reported, "We don't really have any problems with short-term rentals."

That is because vacation rental home owners have strong economic motivation to keep their homes in good condition, to qualify guests and to control their behavior. Failure to do so would result in bad reviews and less income.

Oblivious officials are hallucinating if they think that disallowing short-term rentals would cause second home owners to rent out their homes on an "affordable basis" to local citizens. That is an spurious idea for two reasons.

One: People buy second homes to USE THEM intermittently for family and friends, but renting long-term would prohibit them from doing so. And, two: Second homes tend to be of higher value and owners would be never rent their costly investments for cheap.

On the other hand, Vacation Rentals do help local citizens. They create jobs by bringing upscale visitors to town, where they dine out, buy groceries, require cleaning, undertake activities, and spend money that supports the local economy and jobs. That is especially true in some rural and recreational areas, where jobs are scarce and economic benefits are so greatly needed.

So this is a call to arms. If you believe that property owners should retain their bundle of rights, then watch your city and county officials very carefully, now before they can sneak in dubious regulations or prohibitions. Start lobbying them right away to educate them on what a great value vacation rentals are for your community. Go to a meeting. Tell them how wrong they are.

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0717 – 12/31/19

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

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