A two-year battle between Fort Worth neighborhoods and Airbnb-type rentals may be over

The city of Fort Worth prevailed in a lawsuit challenging its rules on short-term rentals like those listed on Airbnb and VRBO.

Short-term rental operators sued the city in June 2023 alleging the rules violated their property rights. But a Tarrant County District Court judge on Thursday ruled that Fort Worth had the authority to make that regulation.

The ruling comes just over two years after the City Council passed new zoning rules prohibiting short-term rentals in single family neighborhoods. The city’s rules also require operators to register and pay all applicable taxes.

Members of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition, a group opposing the proliferation of short-term rentals, celebrated the decision.

“These unstaffed mini-hotels are completely incompatible with the nature and character of residential neighborhoods. They supplant long-term residents with a revolving door of strangers,” said the group’s co-founder, David Schwarte, in a statement.

He also said short-term rentals…