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Monday, July 21, 2008
Ind. Courts - Trouble in paradise? "Lawsuits flying in Ogden Dunes"
Joe Carlson reports in the NWI Times in a story that begins:
OGDEN DUNES | The calls of gulls and the gentle lapping of Lake Michigan waves belies a thorny and expensive legal battle brewing in this shoreline town.The conflict centers on vacation rental homes, and specifically the practice of renting lakefront homes to strangers for short stays of less than a month.
Ogden Dunes officials say it violates local zoning laws by turning residential homes into lucrative commercial businesses for the owners, in the process threatening to turn the close-knit town into a resort area.
The town says violations carry penalties of $2,500 per day, which could amount to more than $100,000 in fines for one home.
But the home's owners, Lauren and Steven Siwinski, of Highland Park, Ill., say the town's supposed "crackdown" on short-term rentals is unfair because town officials are selectively targeting rentals by people who have second homes in Ogden Dunes.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 21, 2008 08:20 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts