Locals in Nevada have filed complaints alleging that President Joe Biden’s stay in billionaire Tom Steyer’s home may violate a local vacation rental housing ordinance.
The president has only stayed three nights at the $18 million home, deviating from a fair-market lease the White House is considering Monday for an inspection of the Maui fire damage.
When he comes back, he may find his host in trouble with the local authority and a fine of several thousand dollars.
“More than one complaint was filed. “We need to complete our review before I can release any new information,” Ernie Strehlow, manager of the Douglas County, Nevada vacation home program, told .
There was no immediate information that the county had a residency permit, officials wanted to confirm Monday.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden toured Maui’s wildfire damage Monday. For the trip, he interrupted his Lake Tahoe vacation. A county official told that residents have complained that billionaire Tom Steyer’s letting his home to the president may violate a local housing code
The local Nevada Globe reported on the complaints, which allege that the home does not have a vacation rental permit. If substantiated, the billionaire could be fined $20,000 under the county’s condominium rental regulations.
These regulations state that property owners who rent a vacation home without a permit, in violation of county ordinances, can be subject to a civil penalty.
The White House said the Bidens would rent the home at fair market value.
The same officer told the New York Post that he was “actively investigating” the complaints.
It’s just the latest vacation issue for Biden, who was criticized for not commenting on the Maui wildfires from his Delaware beach house. His long day trip to Maui interrupts his nine-day stay at Lake Tahoe.
The code appears to be aimed at homeowners rather than their guests, sparing the Biden family additional inconvenience. Remaining with the president is first son Hunter Biden, who already has his hands full dealing with an investigation by a special counsel.
Biden left Reno, Nevada, early Monday to tour the devastation in Maui, where an estimated 1,000 people are still missing in the deadliest wildfire in the country’s history.
Biden’s trip followed a period of public silence during which he was criticized for his “no comment” while spending time at his Delaware beach house.
Biden lives in the house of climate investor Tom Steyer. The White House said he was renting it at fair market value
Biden leaves Lake Tahoe Monday morning, then flies to Hawaii and plans to return the same day
Under county law, renting vacation homes without a permit can be punishable by a fine of up to $20,000, a sum that is unlikely to affect billionaire Tom Steyer’s fortune
County ordinance requires a permit for vacation rentals
The death toll on Maui has surpassed 114 and authorities are still analyzing the factors that contributed to the massive inferno, including problems with the power grid.
Biden will visit those who lost their homes and loved ones during the disaster and have officials brief them. The White House said it continued to receive briefings over the weekend after Biden made a series of public statements about the disaster following his early stumbles.
He is accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden.
The President leaves a calm atmosphere. He rents the home of billionaire former presidential candidate and climate activist Tom Steyer on the east side of the lake.
He was accompanied by his son Hunter, who was grappling with the collapse of his settlement over tax allegations and whose investigation is now being overseen by US Attorney David Weiss in the role of special counsel.
After being criticized on the beach for not commenting, Biden repeatedly made references to the tragedy.
He spoke at Camp David about the financial contributions from Japan and South Korea announced at the summit, and then boarded Marine One for his voyage to Nevada.
“First, I want to express my appreciation for the contribution your countries have made to alleviating the devastating wildfires in Hawaii.” “I want to thank you both on behalf of the American people,” he said. Biden also said FEMA is preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary in Southern California.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will fly from Reno to Maui where they will meet people affected by the devastating wildfires, first responders and those coordinating the response. The trip comes days after Biden’s “no comment” in the immediate aftermath of the fires
President Joe Biden leaves Lake Tahoe to visit victims of Maui’s devastating wildfires. Here he leaves Our Lady of Tahoe Catholic Church in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, on August 19
President Joe Biden thanked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for their countries’ contributions to Hawaii relief
An estimated 1,000 people are still missing and the death toll is over 100. Biden plans to tour some of the devastation in Lahaina
On Thursday, during a recorded message aired on ABC’s Good Morning America, he vowed to offer help to Maui “as long as it lasts.”
“The entire nation is with you as you recover, rebuild and mourn,” he said.
The wildfire that broke out in the city of Lahaina on August 8 is now the deadliest in more than a century and the fifth-biggest on record for the United States
“We will be with you for as long as necessary, I promise you,” the president added. He pointed out that the federal government has already taken action to send hundreds of rescue workers and thousands of meals and supplies to the historic tourist city devastated by the flames.
Before Biden announced his visit, Republicans compared his lack of a visit to East Palestine, Ohio — where a train derailed and toxic chemicals spilled, displacing hundreds of people. Biden had promised to visit the Ohio city but never did.
Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have attacked him. Trump said he refused to “support or comment on the tragedy” and called the moment “terrible and unacceptable.”
Search operations in wildfire damaged areas in the city of Lahaina destroyed in the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Maui on August 15
Biden first issued “no comment” while on the beach near his home in Delaware.
Then, while walking past reporters, he made a terse remark that he had “looked at it.”
Back at the White House, a reporter asked Biden at the White House, “Can you tell us about your trip to Hawaii?”
“No, not now,” Biden said, before staff finally released details.
The call came at a time when Biden might have wished for a little more distance from the press following the appointment of his son’s special counsel.
Biden and the First Lady travel to Maui on Monday to comfort survivors of the devastating wildfires that ravaged the western portion of the Hawaiian island earlier this month as his administration responds to the devastation, the full extent of which is still unknown.
The Bidens are taking a detour from their week-long vacation in the Lake Tahoe area and taking a day trip to Lahaina, a historic town of 13,000 that was virtually destroyed by the blazes. There, the first couple will meet with first responders and be briefed by state and local officials on the ongoing deployment.
They will also tour the damaged city, both from helicopters and from the ground, and the Democratic President will deliver a speech commemorating the victims of the wildfires that have killed more than 100 people since they began on August 8.
The President will also appoint Bob Fenton, a regional head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as chief coordinator for the federal response to the Maui wildfires and ensure someone in his administration is in charge of long-term recovery efforts. It will take years to rebuild Lahaina, where almost every building has been destroyed.
“I know how profoundly a loss can affect a family and a community, and I know that nothing can replace the loss of life,” Biden said in a statement ahead of the trip. “I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And in all our endeavors, we focus on respect for sacred lands, cultures and traditions.”
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said as of Sunday about 85% of the affected area had been searched and nearly 2,000 people remained without power and 10,000 without telecommunications connectivity. Water is undrinkable in parts of West Maui.
While emergency relief such as water, food and blankets were readily distributed to residents, cellphones, ID cards and other documents people would need to enroll in longer-term aid programs were burned in the fires, Schatz said, adding further challenges to the application process.
According to the White House, more than 1,000 federal officers are still on the ground in Hawaii to respond to the wildfires. The government has provided more than $8 million in relief funds to affected families.
Schatz, who will accompany Biden while the president travels to his home state on Monday, stressed that officials were “still responding to the disaster” and “we are not yet in a recovery phase.”
“As bad as it looks, it’s actually worse,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday. “What you can’t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can’t see are the thousands of kids trying to figure out how to get to school this fall. What you can’t see are the first responders who…”regardless of their own safety, walked into the flames and allowed their own homes to burn down.”
While on vacation in Lake Tahoe, Biden made regular calls to officials to get updates on wildfire response, the White House said.