Stapleton Couple Charged With Operating Short-Term Rental Scheme

Alexander and Stacy Neir were each charged with one count of attempting to influence a public servant.

June 11, 2019

Alexander and Stacy Neir are each charged with one count of attempting to influence a public servant. Courtesy of the Denver District Attorney's Office

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The Denver District Attorney's Office has charged a Stapleton couple with running an illegal short-term rental business through Airbnb. Alexander and Stacy Neir were each charged today, June 11, with one count of attempting to influence a public servant.

Denver requires that any owner or leaser of a short-term rental (STR) must live at the home or apartment they're renting. But while the Neirs live in a home in Stapleton — Stacy is the block captain for the Stapleton Neighborhood Group there, the DA notes — they've been renting out homes in two other neighborhoods. Investigators determined that a home that the Neirs own at 2145 Tennyson Street has been operating as an STR since 2016, and their property at 2145 Eliot Street has been one since 2013.

In March, the city revoked a short-term rental license for the first time after determining that the owner of the property didn't live in the home he posted on Airbnb.

And in April, the city unveiled new rules for short-term rentals that attempt to clarify the grounds for revocation of a license, bolster insurance requirements and lay out how the city should be notified if a short-term rental property changes owners. The city has issued nearly 2,580 short-term rental licenses since the program started in 2016.

The Neirs turned themselves in to law enforcement and will appear in court for a bond hearing on June 21.

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Ana Campbell has been Westword's managing editor since 2016. She has worked at magazines and newspapers around the country, picking up a few awards along the way for her writing and editing. She grew up in south Texas.

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