Redwood City wants corporate housing providers to stop accepting short-term rentals at apartments they own or manage, serving cease-and-desist letters to three in September.

Such short-term rentals violate the city's zoning codes, says assistant city manager Aaron Aknin. He wrote in a blog post that units in the corporate apartment buildings were being rented out on a daily or weekly basis, basically operating as hotels.

Since the buildings were approved as housing and not hotels, the city investigated five apartment complexes, leading to the cease-and-desist letters, he wrote. He says all the apartment building owners have agreed to follow the city's rules going forward, signing minimum 30-day leases.

Corporate housing providers often rent out a block of furnished units in an apartment building, subletting the units to employees for an average of about two months, Aaron says. He notes that Airbnb rentals are different and treated differently, stating that the city is developing new regulations for Airbnb units, which city council will likely review early next year.

The city sent letters to corporate housing companies Oakwood Worldwide, Resi Housing LLC and Synergy Corporate Housing, as well as the owners of the apartment communities (including 2580 El Camino Real, above, which is owned by Oakwood). While there were very few units being leased for less than 30 days, it is still a concern for the city, Aaron says. [SVBJ, Medium]