Birmingham lawmakers look into short-term rentals amid wild pool party incident

Name: Wild pool party puts the spotlight on short-term rentals
Uploaded: 2026-06-16T17:38:58-04:00
Description: Police say the owner of the property didn't rent out his house — he rented the pool on a social media app. That violates Birmingham's zoning ordinance. But at Monday's City Commission meeting, the focus was on short-term rentals.

Wild pool party puts the spotlight on short-term rentals

Police say the owner of the property didn't rent out his house — he rented the pool on a social media app. That violates Birmingham's zoning ordinance. But at Monday's City Commission meeting, the focus was on short-term rentals.

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (FOX 2) - A wild pool party got out of hand Saturday in the city of Birmingham. Loud noise, cars parked all over, and police had to break it up.

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Police say the owner of the property didn't rent out his house, he rented the pool on a social media app. That violates Birmingham's zoning ordinance. But at Monday's City Commission meeting, the focus was on short-term rentals.

FOX 2 talked with attorney Mark Frankel, who says the local government does have restrictions on swimming pools.

"The incident that happened on Saturday was completely absurd. All the families on our street were terrified in their homes," Frankel said. "The people in short-term rentals don't treat it like their own house. They'll have loud parties. They don't care if it's loud at 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock in the morning because they don't live there. They don't have to live with these neighbors."

"He will talk about the need to continue the short-term rental ban," said Commissioner Brad Host.

Birmingham commissioner talks pool party

Birmingham commissioner, Brad Host, joins Charlie Langton following the viral pool party video where over one hundred guests were invited to a home for a evening of fun.

Dig deeper:

The owner and the pool renter did receive violations for creating a nuisance and being disorderly, but this is really about Birmingham not allowing you to rent your pool as well as your house.