Eight women booked a mid-century house in Palm Springs months ahead for a 50th birthday weekend. By Saturday afternoon they were playing yacht rock by the pool at a volume they say they could barely hear over the cicadas. Then the host texted asking them to turn off the music. She says that two hours later, a property manager and two police officers were at the door telling them to leave.
Tiffany Smith (@thetiffanysmith), a Las Vegas police officer, laid out what happened in a video that has drawn more than 4,352 views. Her caption tags both the Palm Springs Police Department and VRBO, and reads “Buyers beware!”
She says the group included her girlfriends, her sister, her cousin and her daughter, and the soundtrack was not what anyone would call a party. “It’s on like a level two, so we can barely hear it. And there’s like Michael McDonald, very yacht rock, Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross sailing, playing in the background,” she says. “But the loudest thing about that was the cicada bugs.”
The host’s message arrived around 1.15 p.m., she says. “We’re in violation of music,” she recalls. “So he’s like, turn it off, you can’t have music outside.” Smith says they complied. “Everybody kind of winds down, we go inside. I put on a face mask and a caftan. We’re all wearing like mumus and caftans.”
Two Hours Later, A Knock
Two hours later, they heard a knock at the door. “It’s a property manager and two police officers. I’m also a police officer,” she says. “We all look like a bunch of golden girls laying around the house and they’re telling us we’re getting evicted.”
She asked for evidence and says she got none. “As a cop, I want proof and evidence. That’s the basis of my job. And I looked at the cop and I was like, this is your job too. So where is it?” While they were part of the incident, she doesn’t blame the officers. “They’re like, look, this is what we have to do, we don’t have a choice,” Smith says.
Some of the group drove back to Las Vegas; the rest took hotel rooms. “Not only are we out of the [VRBO] money, which is over $2,000 for the weekend, we have to buy a hotel room. We have to go out to eat. We have to buy more clothes.”
The Rule Is Stricter Than She Assumed
Smith admits she only skimmed the agreement. “I read something about noise ordinance from 10pm to 7am. I’m like, well, obviously I’m not going to be having a rager,” she says. “I didn’t realize it was music at all times ever.”
Palm Springs makes no allowance for volume or hour. The provision covering vacation rentals, Municipal Code 5.25.070(g), says any “loudspeaker, sound amplifier, or any machine or device for the producing or reproducing of any sound shall be conducted within a fully enclosed vacation rental unit and shall not be audible at the property line,” per city code.
Sound has to be inside the house and inaudible from the boundary. Her comparison was apt: “It’s like literally the movie of Footloose.”
How the manager knew about music nobody nearby could apparently hear is the part Smith keeps wondering about. She suspects a neighbour was listening. Short-term rentals commonly carry noise decibel monitors. One of those would flag a volume breach without anyone overhearing anything.
Other Issues With The Property
Smith also objected to something she found in the garden. “There was cameras in the backyard, which was not disclosed in the contract, and I wasn’t comfortable with, shooting straight at the pool,” she says. “What if we wanted to be topless? None of us were, but like, what if?”
She also suspects a listening device was there, though she offers no evidence for that. On that narrower question California is unambiguous: Penal Code section 632 makes it an offence to use “an electronic amplifying or recording device to eavesdrop upon or record” a confidential communication without every party’s consent.
‘Filing A Civil Suit’
Commenters told her to not take it lying down. “Dispute that charge on your credit card. 100%,” wrote lisskiebeans. Smith replied: “Done.”
Fredfreedom646 wondered why she accepted the cops evicting her: “What amazes me is you said you’re a cop. You should know it’s a civil issue and the cops have zero power in a civil situation.” Her answer was two words plus a plan: “I’m aware. Filing a civil suit.”
Vantessa_rey was reconsidering a trip on the basis of the video: “I’m so glad I saw this. My friends, also Golden Girl vibes, were planning on going in February.”
Smith says her friends rescued the weekend, but her overall verdict on the experience serves as a warning. “I was here barely 24 hours and you won’t refund my money,” she says. “It’s almost like they’re betting on it.”
BoardingArea reached out to Smith by email and to Vrbo for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.
@thetiffanysmith @Palm Springs PD @Vrbo Byers beware! #justagirl #weekend ♬ original sound – Tiffany Smith
