Fountain Valley grapples with how to regulate short-term rentals amid complaints

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Tom Rodgers often babysits his grandkids, but he says he also has to keep an eye on the visitors who file through his neighbor's home on Sparrow Avenue in Fountain Valley.

"This is a quiet neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody, and when a lot of different people come in here, you don't know their background, you don't' know if they're sex offenders," Rodgers said. He's lived in the neighborhood for 30 years.

Neighbors call the five-bedroom, middle-class home "the hotel." Less than a year ago, neighbors say the owners of the home renovated it, moved out and then listed it on an Airbnb-type website.

"Sometimes they rent them through the week and most of the time it's on weekends," Rodgers said.

Some residents complain of noise, parking problems and strangers coming and going at all hours.

"We've had an actual wedding ceremony in the front yard, class reunion was last week, all weekend long," said Brenda Bowen who moved into the neighborhood 10 years ago and hopes the city puts restrictions in place for vacation rentals.

"I spent a long time and looked at hundreds of houses to make an investment for me and my family," Bowen said.

Residents complained to the city. Fountain Valley is now looking into the issue, but so far the city's zoning code doesn't cover vacation rentals.

City officials say the homeowners of the vacation rental property told the city it would remove its listing from a rental website, but they since reposted it so the city says it will issue a citation shortly.

"We are investigating the location and owners of other short term rentals that may be in the City. We have received complaints about two separate properties," said Matt Mogensen, the city's interim planning and building director.

Mogensen also says the city will look into a new California law, SB761, which was signed this week by Gov. Jerry Brown. SB761 would force short-term rental housing websites, such as Airbnb, to warn users they may be violating their leases and be at risk of eviction if they sublet their homes.

The bill was sponsored by the California Apartment Association, which says vacation rentals put other tenants in danger by bringing unscreened people into complexes.

Property records show the owner of the home is Phong Duy Nguyen. He did not respond to Eyewitness News' request for comment.

The Fountain Valley Planning Commission plans to look into the issue of vacation house rentals at its meeting on Sept. 9. Meanwhile, SB761 is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.