Short-Term Rentals Create Havoc in Simi Valley Neighborhoods

On August 4th, 2025, the Simi Valley City Council discussed short-term rentals, or “STRs”, as they are commonly known. While the Council voted to postpone a ban on STRs, thank you, Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh, for your lone dissenting vote. Indicating deference for proposed state laws, Council-member Rocky Rhodes said that voting on the issue of STRs is “probably two months premature.”

Research shows that state bills will focus primarily on taxes, transparency, and local control. California Senate Bill 346 authorizes local agencies to require short-term rental facilitators to report information to assist in enforcing the collection of transient occupancy taxes.

Even if Senate Bill 346 passes, the legislature will throw the regulation of STRs back to the individual cities. In the near term, there will be no comprehensive statewide solution.

At the August 4th and August 18 meetings, several residents spoke up, asking the council to enact a full ban on STRs. Two speakers expressed the horror of having a party house in their neighborhood, including noise, trash, and constant disruption. Speaking of “horror,” the “Poltergeist House,” used in filming of the 1982 movie by the same name is now an unregistered STR in Simi Valley. It is so famous that Los Angeles TV station Channel 9 featured it on both their newscast and their website. It was an open invitation to party at what looks like any other home in the neighborhood.

Since the incorporation of Simi Valley in 1969, it has always been known as an “owner occupied,” bedroom community. Now, between seventy and one hundred known STRs operate unregulated and unlawfully throughout the city. With the City of Los Angeles’ current ban on “second home” STRs, the number of scofflaw STRs in Simi Valley could grow exponentially. Chatsworth, which is a neighborhood in Los Angeles is only minutes away via the 118 Freeway.

Once affordable, homes in Simi Valley’s 1960’s Texas Tract now list for $900,000 and above. Each sale of a single-family home removes one more parcel off the list of properties that once were owner-occupied. Each sale to an investor or corporation decreases ongoing supply and drives up prices. With two out of nineteen homes on our block now advertised as STRs, there are no longer any school aged children here. Continuation of this trend could lead to teacher layoffs and school closures.

Simi Valley is rapidly becoming an investment Mecca for those with indifference to the disruption their STR might cause to a neighborhood. I know. For over ten years we lived next to a notorious Simi Valley party house. After calling the police fourteen times regarding wild parties, we lost track. Despite constant noise and disruption, police issued only a single citation. With the police-force already stretched, increased calls regarding raucous parties at STRs will further dilute crime fighting resources. 

Recently, my other next-door neighbor silently became a corporately owned STR. It now features glowing Airbnb reviews for its location in a “quiet neighborhood.” How long will it be before we see rogue parties at that location? Will we ever see owner occupancy or a long-term renter there ever again?

Wherever you may live in Simi Valley, (or anywhere in California) do you want an unregulated and unlicensed business operating next door to you? Should we wait until it is too late to stop the destruction of our beautiful Simi Valley community, in favor of corporate greed and meager additional tax revenue?

Now is the time for the Simi Valley City Council to enact a full ban on Short Term Rentals.