VISTA — City officials have declared an unlicensed short-term rental in Vista a public nuisance in the face of dozens of complaints from neighbors, multiple code violations, and nearly $18,000 in unpaid citations.
On March 11, the Vista City Council unanimously approved the public nuisance abatement at 853 Crescent Drive, located on a quiet residential street east of Vista Village. This includes placing a lien on the property to pay off the citations.
Neighbors say that for the past year and a half, the home has been the site of large, raucous parties lasting late into the night. Young people drink, make noise and congeal the small street with cars.
The Crescent Drive home has not obtained a short-term rental (STR) permit, business license, or paid transit occupancy tax to the city, violating Vista’s STR ordinance adopted in June 2024. Despite repeated citations from the city since August and two cease-and-desist letters, the property continued to host guests as recently as early March.
“We won’t issue them an STR license at this point, based on all their prior actions,” said City Attorney Walter Chung.
The home has been listed on various short-term rental websites, including Airbnb, Booking.com and VRBO, under “The Fun House,” boasting a large backyard with basketball and pickleball courts. These listings were removed last week.
The Sheriff’s Office responded to 17 incidents at the house from January 2024 to February 2025, mainly for parties and incidents of grand theft and armed and suspicious individuals, city officials said.
Neighbors said the property owner has done nothing to address the issues after repeated conversations. They have filed nearly 40 complaints with the city of Vista.
“It has taken 17 months to get here tonight, and we are here after much effort. It hasn’t been an easy 17 months, as it has taken a toll on my health and my neighbors’ health,” said resident Anna Strong.
Daniel Soraci, who manages the property for his father, Antonio Soraci, explained at the March 11 council meeting that he attempted to bring the rental into compliance but didn’t know he was supposed to obtain a license or STR permit until October. He also said he missed many of the city’s notices because he didn’t check the mail at the Crescent Drive property.
Soraci also acknowledged that some parties got out of control in the early days of Airbnb operations but said he sought to address these issues with a two-night minimum stay, stricter house rules, and proactive communication.
“If I receive reports of unauthorized gatherings from neighbors, I take immediate action by contacting the guests if necessary, or Airbnb support,” Soraci said. “I fully understand the impact that noise disturbances can have in a community, and I want to make sure I remain committed to maintaining a peaceful environment.”
However, neighbors refuted this. Bill Froelich said that about a month and a half ago, when he reached out about an “outrageous” party held at the house, Soraci simply told him to call the cops.
“I don’t see any effort on the owner or Daniel the manager’s part to curtail these types of events when they start happening,” said Froelich. “He did nothing, he has done nothing, [and] I don’t expect him to do anything.”
An initial notice of violation was issued to Antonio Soraci on Aug 12, ordering him to complete STR and transient occupancy tax documents and obtain a business license within two weeks.
The property began to rack up fees after repeated findings of continued violations, eventually growing to $2,000 per violation. As of March 11, code enforcement officials said none of the $17,875 in citations had been paid off.
City staff said that despite ongoing enforcement, the property has generated around $42,000 in revenue without paying the TOT tax.
Members of the City Council said they would not tolerate any more violations.
“Not only is it disrespectful to our residents and our city, it is also a waste of resources to have to send our deputies to this home … and our code enforcement,” said Councilmember Dan O’Donnell. “There are many other important things that they could be out there doing, and this should not be one of them.”
