Per Masterdam’s Court of Audit & Het Parool, Holiday rentals in the Dutch capital are proving devastating to the city’s neighborhoods in a multitude of ways.
Besides the general bother caused by over-tourism, Amsterdam faces the risk of millions in unpaid fines for housing fraud. The Court of Audit recognized some 7 million in outstanding fines from last year still on the books. The reason for such delinquent debts is many. In most cases, the collection of money owed is an overly lengthy process, where offenders maximize their time through collection procedures or lawsuits. In other cases, offenders die or file for bankruptcy.
Also per the Court of Audit, the majority of such rental-related fines deal with the general nuisance caused by those here for short stay. Again, evident in many ways, the general consensus is a feeling of unease from locals. Holiday renters create a constant flow of tourists in and out of the city, many times causing residents to feel unsafe in their own homes. To exacerbate matters, those issuing such complaints describe the city’s lack of enforcement on such matters as being problematic.
Despite this all, there seems to be some good news in the sense that the Court of Audit describes the city’s enforcement of holiday rental law as “reasonably good” with measures slowly being implemented such as the ability to pay/collect fines directly through the phone.
