After rental party gunfire, Scottsdale police explain license suspension options

After gunfire struck neighboring homes during a weekend party at a Scottsdale short-term rental, a police commander said the city can seek to suspend a landlord’s license in extreme cases like this.

However, doing so would require law enforcement to go through a multistep legal process, according to Scottsdale Police Commander Jeremy O’Meara.

“In a case like this — this happened this weekend — where it’s an extreme case, we do have a new mechanism to try to suspend that license, but we have to go through the court to do so,” O’Meara told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

According to ABC15, police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots near Roosevelt and 74th streets in south Scottsdale and said shots were fired in a home’s front yard, backyard and the street, striking nearby homes and leaving shell casings in the street.

O’Meara did not say whether the city has sought a suspension for the property involved in Sunday’s incident or whether its license has been suspended.

Holding property owners accountable for crimes at rental properties

Scottsdale’s nuisance-party ordinance lets officers issue citations to people renting homes where disruptive parties occur, but holding the property owner accountable can be more complicated, he added.

“The challenge for us is trying to connect that party back to the homeowner itself, and so what we’re looking to do is trying to find better mechanisms to hold the property owners responsible,” O’Meara said.

For recurring violations, O’Meara described a process requiring court-adjudicated violations before the city can pursue a license suspension. He distinguished that process from the mechanism available in extreme cases like the weekend incident.

The commander said recurring problems involve a small share of Scottsdale’s licensed rentals.

“We have about 3,000 licensed properties in Scottsdale but very few of them would we consider the ones that we have to pay extra attention to for being out of compliance or recurring parties,” O’Meara said.

Although the Scottsdale Police Department works with rental owners, guests and neighbors to explain city rules and expectations, O’Meara said he would also like greater authority over the number and concentration of short-term rentals.

“I have the authority and ability to shut down a party once it’s occurring and once I have the violations, but it would be nice to where we would have greater control over how many licenses get issued or the density in which an area experiences licenses,” he explained.

Between January and August, Scottsdale police responded to 665 calls for service at short-term rental properties.

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