WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
Eileen Rains monopolized most of the time at the Mammoth Lakes Town Council’s meeting appealing a $3,614.88 charge for illegally renting her property located at 246 Canyon Boulevard.
The Town had identified Rains was renting her property nightly without anpermit, and subsequently conducted a sting operation where it was able to make a reservation through an online advertisement.
The rental was identified by town staff in March 2023. Reviews from November 2022 to January 2023 indicated previous rental activity.
The town issued a first citation of $1,500, sent via first-class and certified mail, and posted at the property on April 7, 2023. The citation required Rains to cease advertising, cancel existing rentals, and provide details on past rental activity.
After a citation is ordered, property owners have 15 days to respond.
The town issued a second citation of $3,000 April 26, 2023 after receiving no response to the first citation. The town investigated and found $3,902 in actual rental activity.
“If you had immediately contacted us with the first citation, then there would be no citations,” town manager Rob Patterson told Rains. “The fact that the contact occurred after the second one, they’re locked in at that point.”
The town then sent a final notice of determination to Rains, which listed the total amount owed as $5,864.88.
Rains had an administrative hearing on January 10, 2024 with Haislip Hayes, Mammoth Lakes Public Works Director, in which he determined she needed to show phone records of her outreach to the county.
She provided a screenshot of a text message, but the message was not related to the tax citation, according to the enforcement case report.
“Since no proof of communication or phone records were provided, I am not willing to waive the full amount of the citations,” Hayes wrote.
Hayes did halve the administrative fees from $4,500 to $2,250, lowering the total she owed to the town to $3,614.88
Rains said Hayes did not give her a fair shake due to personal bias against her. She claimed that another person had been renting out the property without her knowledge.
“The thing that really frustrates me is this is taking staff time – this is costing the town more than the amount we’re gonna collect,” said Mammoth Lakes councilmember Chris Bubser. “We have a lot of people in this town that don’t follow the rules and if you don’t follow the rules then you get fined.”
Councilmembers voted to give Rains a final 15 days to prove she reached out to the town after the initial citation. If she fails to do so, she is required to pay the $3,614.88 with no further opportunities to appeal.
… As with most things, leasing out The Parcel has proven easier in theory than in practice.
Buckingham Property Management, the company overseeing the first phase of Mammoth’s Parcel build-out, began leasing the new building on Wednesday, Aug. 21, and anticipates the Sawyer will be fully leased by the end of September.
However, of the 36 approved applicants for the Parcel, only three people scheduled an interview to be placed in the new building, said Town Manager Rob Patterson.
“One of my disappointments here is that [Buckingham Property Management] has not contacted at least 65 individuals,” Mayor Bill Sauser said. “The occupancy permit has been going on for months and months and we have hollered about the vetting process and getting people into that.”
“I think that there’s a lot of frustration with people in town who say that the only way to get ahold of [Buckingham] is by email and they don’t always respond,” said Councilmember Amanda Rice. “It would be unfortunate for Buckingham’s email to go to someone’s spam folder and that they don’t realize that they have this great opportunity.”
