The city has proposed rules to make it hard to run a short-term rental without a city-issued license. Third-party data suggests thousands of owners rent out their homes without one.
The Austin City Council could pass new regulations on Airbnbs and other short-term rentals as early as Feb. 27.
A new city license costs roughly $800. If the ordinance passes, the city would require short-term rental websites to mandate owners provide a license number before advertising their homes for rent. A company like Airbnb wouldn’t be required to check that license numbers are active, or even real, city staff said.
Austin defines a short-term rental as a home that is rented out in whole or in part for fewer than 30 consecutive days. The city has required owners of short-term rentals to have licenses since it began regulating these homes in 2012, but data suggest the vast majority of owners don’t have one.14,500 short-term rental listings last month in Austin. City records, on the other hand, show that just 2,200 property owners here have a license.
"We are supportive of platforms collecting and remitting local tourism taxes on behalf of hosts — something we have long advocated for here in Austin," Luis Briones, senior policy manager at Airbnb, said in a statement. While some short-term rental owners celebrated not having to file taxes on their own, others balked at some of the proposed requirements – including a mandate that owners have a $1 million liability insurance policy.
Gest pointed out that Airbnb already provides owners with up to $1 million of liability insurance. The city confirmed to KUT that this policy would suffice. But owners would need to get their own policy if the company they’re using to list a rental doesn’t provide it.
Austin City Council Vrbo Hotel Occupancy Taxes Licenses Short-Term Rentals
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