Some residents of a Brickell apartment complex are aggravated with their homeowner’s association after a large influx of short-term renters have turned life at the building into chaos. A video posted by OnlyInDade offers a succinct summary of residents’ growing frustrations, as the entrance t o The Club at Brickell Bay at 1200 Brickell Bay Drive was jam-packed with people waiting in line just to get onto the elevator. “I bought this as my forever home so I don’t have any plans to move; I don’t want to move — I want them to move,” said Christina Lardon, a resident. Residents like Lardon say roughly 85% of the units at the building have been converted into Airbnb spots, which they say has routinely attracted short-term, and often careless, renters. Lardon argued the revolving door of renters is causing long-term residents to deal with increased expenses and headaches as a result of these unruly crowds. “But imagine an increase in water, trash, security and just absolute damage to the building,” said Lardon. One photo outside the building appeared to show a discarded condom laying on the ground. After years of complaints from long-term residents, the City of Miami has stepped in. In a letter to the building’s homeowner’s association, the city ordered all illegal short-term rentals to cease immediately, writing “Based upon our preliminary investigation, there appear to be over 300 ‘vacation’ rentals available in the building.” It goes on to say the building was only approved for 30 vacation rental units. “This operation creates a significant life safety issue as your building is not approved for fire, life safety or disability requirements as provided for in the relevant codes,” the letter says. “All illegal vacation/lodging rentals in violation of both State and local law must cease immediately.” Lardon told 7News some unit owners have used absurd levels of creativity to make a quick buck. “They’ve been enclosing the dining room, for example, and turning it into an extra bedroom so there’s all these un-permitted walls or new rooms being created,” said Lardon. In one listing, a 1-bedroom rental unit for 14 adults was being offered for four nights at $1,862. She said listings like these have often led to quadruple the building’s occupancy limit. While the ordeal has made living at the building a nightmare for long-term renters, visitors vacationing there for a few days found the chaotic scenes enjoyable, if only a bit inconvenient to deal with the long lobby lines. “You see a lot of people waiting for the elevator here in the lobby,” said Jose Fernandez, who is visiting from Spain. “The ceiling is just gross, it needs to be cleaned and there’s just, like, a layer of dust on everything you touch but the location is excellent and we love the spacious rooms,” said Linda Pate, who is visiting from Dubai. 7News reached out to the building’s management but they have refused to release any statement regarding residents’ allegations. Meantime, City of Miami officials say staff at the building have 10 days to respond to the letter. ...read more read less