Washington, DC – Today, Councilmember Kenyan R.
McDuffie, Chairman of the Committee on Business and Economic
Development, announced the introduction of new legislation to
establish a workable regulatory framework for short-term rental
housing. This legislation, drawing upon successful models from
across the country, provides new penalties and increased
transparency and reporting requirements to ensure residential
neighborhoods are retained for the full-time residents of D.C.
Under current law, hosts are required to obtain a business license
designed for more traditional hospitality enterprises. This
legislation creates a new type of business license specifically
designed for short-term rentals.
Currently, many operators do not bother to obtain licenses.
This is a problem because business licenses a valuable tool to
ensure that operators are complying with District regulations
designed to protect housing availability, neighborhood quality of
life, and health and safety standards. Under the new bill,
hosts will face penalties if they refuse to obtain a business
license. More importantly, hosting platforms will be responsible
for verifying and posting business license numbers.
Critically, the new short-term rental license category limits hosts
to short-term renting only their own primary residence. This
requirement, when it is enforced, will effectively end commercial
short-term rental operations that deplete housing and harm
neighborhoods.
"Access to affordable housing remains of paramount concern to
residents across the District of Columbia. While at the same time,
the city lacks a coherent regulatory scheme for short-term rental
housing, allowing bad actors to take those units off the housing
market. This has been going on long enough: it is time to create a
clear, enforceable legal framework so that those who are exploiting
the lack of regulations are stopped, and those who want to practice
responsible home sharing can come into the light,” said
Councilmember and lead sponsor Kenyan McDuffie.
This new legislation would create a commonsense and comprehensive
system for enforcement, penalties, transparency and reporting
requirements to hold both short-term rental hosts and platforms
like Airbnb accountable, while providing the District with the
tools needs to regulate this new industry, which can take
affordable housing away from D.C. residents and disrupt
neighborhood quality of life.
"Rent in the District is among the highest in the country and
it didn’t happen by accident. Commercial operators using Airbnb,
not homeowners looking to earn a little extra money, have been
abusing short-term rentals by gobbling up affordable housing units
and converting them into illegal hotels, helping to make DC one of
the most expensive places to live.” Commented Valerie Ervin, of the
Working Families Party, “The mothers and fathers who work and live
here will never have a fair shot at making ends meet until we level
the playing field and stop this abuse. This legislation does just
that."
“Last month we stood in front of a rent-controlled apartment
building that had been converted into an illegal hotel by a
commercial operator in Columbia Heights,” Elizabeth Falcon, the
Executive Director of the DC Jobs with Justice said Tuesday. “That
commercial operator and others like him are illegally taking away
affordable housing our working families badly need. This
legislation puts a solid framework in place for short-term rentals
that is clear, fair, and protects our communities from illegal
commercial operations.”
Key Provisions
of the Bill:
- New short-term rental license category
created: A new
category of Basic Business License for short-term rentals is
created to address the unique challenges of short-term rental
businesses.
- Licenses & Publication Required: Every host must maintain a Basic Business
License and inform rental platforms of the approved BBL
number. The hosting platform is then responsible for
publishing and verifying each BBL number.
- Permanent & Occupied Residence Only For
Licenses: The owner/host must
be present during the short-term rental stay, and no person
can register to rent more than one residential unit, and that
unit must be that person’s permanent residence in the
District.
- Vacation rental 15 Night Cap: A resident may offer a short-term rental
as a vacation rental, without being present, for a maximum of
fifteen (15) nights cumulatively in any calendar year.
There is no cap on home-sharing, including offering private
rooms and shared spaces.
- Violations & Civil Penalties of Short-Term
Rental Law: Any person (host)
found in violation of this law can be fined no more than
$1,000 for the first violation, $4,000 for the second
violation, and $7,000 for the third and subsequent violations.
- Civil Penalties on Online Platform: Any Hosting Platform who violates this law
shall be liable for a civil penalty of $1,000 for each booking
transaction made in violation of this act.
- Fines Contribute to Creating Affordable
Housing in the District: Fifty percent of fines will go to the
General Fund; the other half will be deposited in the Housing
Production Trust Fund that is used to provide financial
assistance for the production of low-income housing in the
District.
- Removal & Notices By Hosting Platform: Hosting platforms are responsible for removing
listings without a valid business license and shall provide
all relevant requirements for short-term rentals to any person
seeking to use their platform.
- Grace Period: There is a grace period of 120 days after
the law becomes effective so that hosts have adequate time to
register for their Basic Business License.
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From: Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie
[mailto:kmcduffie=dccouncil.us@mail194.atl81.rsgsv.net] On Behalf Of Councilmember
Kenyan R. McDuffie
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