Indio council asks staff to study corporate home purchases and short‑term rentals

Councilmember Oscar Ortiz asked the Indio City Council on Jan. 15 to consider policies to limit large corporations from buying single‑family homes in Indio, saying residents reported frequent cash offers that disadvantaged local families.

Ortiz said he has heard from residents and real estate agents who say multiple single‑family homes are being purchased by institutional buyers. "I think we could have a strong community support for making sure our single family homes are going to families and giving them the opportunity [for] home ownership and building generational wealth," Ortiz said.

City Manager Montgomery told the council staff had requested and received county parcel and ownership data that can be queried to estimate how many properties are held by corporate investors. He proposed an initial email report on the scale of the issue and a subsequent council meeting—staff suggested the second week of February—to present options, potentially including draft ordinance language or policy tools for council consideration.

Council discussion linked the housing concern to short‑term rentals (STRs) and upcoming festival demand. Several members urged staff to include STR counts, permit status and pending applications in the report. Councilmember Petrone and others said the city benefits economically from visitors but also needs to balance housing supply so residents can afford homes.

No formal policy was enacted. Council directed staff to return with: - An initial data summary (by email) showing parcel ownership patterns from county records; and - A follow‑up report and options (target: second week of February) including STR inventory and potential regulatory measures for council consideration.