Our thoughts are with all of our supporters in areas of the country that have been devastated by Hurricane Ian.
Destructive disasters like Ian are a reminder that transient occupants, including Pacaso shareholders, can ADD to the problems in evacuations, especially for emergency services. In these cases, they are no different than short term renters who have no understanding of the local issues, whether it be hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes or mudslides and choose to 'party through' to make the most of their allotted time.
The clip below reminds us that non-residents put emergency workers at risk. Bottom line.
Sullivan's Island, SC had a big turnout for their last Town Council meeting. Hundreds of signs are throughout the small community and their voices are being heard.
Here is a recent update from SI organizers: "Town of Sullivan’s Island has taken an aggressive two pronged approach by informing Pacaso and the local LLC that they must apply for a business license and, more importantly, have also served the LLC with a Zoning Enforcement Letter that is effectively a Cease and Desist of Operations"!
Click to listen to the public comment during the Council meeting: http://sullivansislandsc.suiteonemedia.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=510&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0
Santa Barbara/Montecito, CA has experienced the worst NoPacaso sign thievery of any community. As fast as they are posted, they are stolen.
This is NOT going to stop this very well organized group from making sure everyone knows how they feel about Pacaso in their community.
Park City, UTcontinues to be haunted by Pacaso where they own 10 homes, most in residential areas. A Pacaso rep zoomed in for the October 6th Council Meeting and made a veiled threat about Pacaso suing if the City makes changes to ban Pacaso in the future in residential areas. After that, the Council unanimously voted to put off the decision until the next meeting on October 27th. Read more about the meeting in the latest article in the Park Record HERE.
In addition, despite Pacaso's statement to a reporter that they were pausing any purchases until the October 6th Council meeting when Pacaso was on the agenda, they have gone ahead and advertised a new home in a residential area. We know Pacaso's word cannot be trusted.
Look how close the houses are to one another.
Austin, TX This is from one of our Austin supporters: "On 9/20 the Austin Code Department sent a letter preemptively to Pacaso saying that if they want to operate in Austin, the property would need a short term rental license. This is because stays are <30 days and the “owner’s” name is not on the deed, only the LLC.
Here’s the catch-22 that the letter doesn’t say— LLCs are not eligible for short term rental license in residential zoned areas. Only owner-occupied properties are eligible for new license (STR1), and that means actual person(s)".
BTW, as a reminder, the current Mayor of Austin sits on the Pacaso Government Advisory Board, which makes this even more interesting.
Malibu, CA has a listing that has perplexed us. Here is what we tweeted:
Tell us what you think might be happening.
Our guess is that Pacaso was having trouble selling the small home for the asking price of $625,000 per share and instead marked it as 'sold'. But, in reality, they turned it over to LA Luxuries who is marketing it for them at the price of $485,000.
By doing this, they are not showing a 'fire sale' on the Pacaso website listings.
Redfin lists the home sold (most likely to Pacaso) on January 26, 2021 for $3,450,000 and the value today is $3,275,412.
BTW, $625,000 x 8 = $5,000,000 and $485,000 x 8 = $3,880,000.
Napa, CAis home (well, one of his homes) to Austin Allison, Pacaso Co-Founder. Allison has bought his way into the Chamber of Commerce with large donations and now sits on the Chamber Board. In addition, County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza accepted a $5000 campaign donation from Pacaso with no remorse.
SPN supporters just can't catch a break there. They do not have the unanimous support of their elected officials and Pacaso continues to purchase homes in the County including the residential area of Olive Hill.
Do you remember when HGTV's show called 'Selling LA' met with Pacaso's sales rep to 'shop' Napa homes on the show? The Pacaso rep said they had learned their lesson about making sure homes were in areas that were in areas away from neighbors offering more privacy. Again, can't trust what comes out of the mouth of Pacaso staff.
Join @StopPacasoNOW on Twitter
Here's a retweet by one of our followers
More mumbo-jumbo from the pages of the Pacaso website
Pacaso has a section called 'Blog' which can be found on the website's drop down menu in the upper right hand corner. There are dozens of 'articles' that were commissioned by Pacaso as marketing pieces. Here are a few treasured quotes:
"Pacaso® is a technology-enabled marketplace that modernizes real estate co-ownership."
What does this mean? What technology is involved other than a scheduling app? Where is the innovation and modernization?
"On average, Pacaso listings resell in 12 days, with a 12% gain, on an annual basis."
Where did Pacaso come up with these stats? This statement is not based on any real data or facts. The first homes were only sold in 2021 and any share had to be held for one year before it could be resold. Recently, Pacaso changed this rule and on their website it now states that if all shares are sold, a shareholder does not need to wait one year. Hard to keep up with their changing rules and regulations!
"At Pacaso, we’re sometimes asked if Pacaso owners contribute to local taxes in the destinations in which we operate. The answer is a resounding yes."
Did you know that there is no reassessment of property taxes on a Pacaso property unless more than 50% of the property is sold at the SAME TIME? Since this will rarely happen, it could be decades of new share holders avoiding increases in property taxes. A WIN for Pacaso shareholders a big LOSS for communities.
This Code is a suggested code and not part of the recorded deed that transfers with the sale, so what happens when the code is violated? Well, many of us have experienced violations of the party, parking and meeting rules. What does the code say will happen? "Violations of Pacaso’s owner policies may result in monetary penalties or a temporary suspension of stay rights."
And, how are they really going to enforce that?
This flyer was sent to neighborhoods in Long Island, NY
Many thanks to one of our supporters in the town of Cutchogue for alerting us.
