The lawless days of vacation rental services are coming to an end thanks to new city regulations.
After years of negotiating, the city of Portland and Airbnb signed a data-sharing agreement in August of 2019 to enforce the city’s short-term rental permits. This agreement requires Airbnb to share their user’s listings data with Portland regulators and remove listings without the proper city permits. In exchange, the city has streamlined the permit application process.
Portland has had a difficult time enforcing short-term rental regulations since legalization in 2014. Last year auditors estimated only 22% of short-term rentals were permitted with the city. Although Portland regulation states that hosts must live on their rental property for 9 months of the year, the majority of these listings are advertised as entire homes. The city estimates up to 1,500 listings could be removed from Airbnb in January because of their new agreement.
What’s changing on the platform?
As of November, Airbnb implemented a registration system for Portland hosts. Hosts must re-apply through the new system to disclose their property to the city or add their short-term permit number to their listings by December 31st. The new registration asks for hosts’ consent to have their information shared with Portland regulators to ensure legal compliance. Hosts that refuse to consent will have their listings removed starting January 1st.
Beginning in December, Airbnb will send monthly listing updates to Portland’s revenue division. Data in these updates include the property owner’s name, the person listing the property, their contact information, the listing address, and the number of rooms and guests advertised for rent. This registry data will be made public record and will be available online through property records on Portland Maps.
In order to speed up the short-term rental application process, the city of Portland no longer requires in-person inspections for every vacation rental and has reduced the number of application forms needed to apply for permitting. The city has also agreed to allow Airbnb to list properties that have pending permits. For more details on the Portland short-term rental permitting process, check out our quick guide.
Sources
Jr., Everton Bailey. “Airbnb Launching New Registration System to Help Portland Keep Track of Rental Hosts.” Oregonlive, 31 Oct. 2019, https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/10/airbnb-launching-new-registration-system-to-help-portland-keep-track-of-rental-hosts.html.
Templeton, Amelia. “Portland Drafts Ordinance To Crackdown On Airbnb.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, OPB, 4 Sept. 2019, https://www.opb.org/news/article/airbnb-portland-oregon-ordinance-crackdown/.
Templeton, Amelia. “Portland Reaches Rental Data Sharing Agreement With Airbnb.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, OPB, 5 Sept. 2019, https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-airbnb-reaches-rental-data-sharing-agreement/.
ADU, Housing Regulations, Short-term Rentals | Short-Term Rentals
