County Regulation Related To Short-term Rentals

A board of county commissioners is currently authorized to license and regulate an owner or owner's agent of a lodging unit that is rented or advertised for short-term stays, and "owner's agent" expressly excludes an internet hospitality service. The act modifies this regulatory authority by clarifying that it applies to lodging units that are available for short-term rentals, which are rentals for less than 30 days, and by excluding a hotel unit from the scope of the authority.

The act also changes "internet hospitality service" to "vacation rental service" (service), defines the term, and provides separate authority for a board of county commissioners to regulate a service. This authority, however, is limited to requiring:

• An owner or owner's agent to include a rental license or permit number, if applicable, in any listing for a lodging unit on the service's website or other digital platform; and
• The service to remove a listing from the service's website or other digital platform, if properly notified by a county that the owner of the listed lodging unit has had a local short-term rental license or permit suspended or revoked or has been issued a notice of violation or similar legal process for not possessing a valid local short-term rental license or permit or that the county has a prohibition on short-term rentals that applies to the lodging unit.

Upon the request of an owner of a hotel unit that is located in a building with one or more lodging units or a vacation rental service on which the hotel unit is listed, a county is required to provide written verification that the hotel unit is exempt from the ordinance because it is not a lodging unit.

APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023

NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)