Amicus Brief: Hause v. Fayetteville

The City of Fayetteville, Arkansas banned short-term rentals (STRs) once they reached 2% of total housing stock, arguing that any lower ratio would damage the city’s “residential” character. A couple residing in Texas who make frequent trips to Fayetteville due to the health needs of their daughter, a student at the University of Arkansas, and thus make regular use of STRs, sued to block this ordinance. Among several constitutional claims, plaintiffs argue that the ban violates the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause insofar as it prevents a nonharmful use of one’s property in the public’s interest—i.e., for public “use.” As the American economy continues to “gig-atize” and Americans’ residential arrangements become more complicated, STRs increasingly serve as an important alternative to the 1950s paradigm that still close off huge swaths of the country to much-needed development and growth. Although Arkansas is hardly the epicenter of this trend, this is one of the first such cases to reach a state’s highest court. Its outcome may serve as a model for precedents elsewhere. MI has now filed an amicus brief in the Arkansas Supreme Court that highlights the precedential and policy implications in either direction—and will discuss successful pro-STR policies—to help persuade the court that a decision ending Fayetteville’s ban would help fix America’s housing crisis without causing the economic and social ills detractors claim.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.

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