Popular vacation destinations have been cracking down on short term vacation rentals for a decade or more now. But fines are again on the rise because rental property owners no longer care about minimal fines. It’s just the cost of doing business. Well that cost is going to put people out of business in many places like Miami beach which increased its first time violation fine more than 13x to $20,000! And Portland with citations of $1,050 to $5,250.
Miami Beach’s law against short-term rentals has been on the books for years, but its $1,500 fine was not a deterrent, so the city increased it in 2016 to $20,000 for the first violation, rising to as much as $100,000 for the fifth.
“an illegal Airbnb instructs guests to lie and say they are friends of the landlord if someone asks”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/23/unwelcome-guests-airbnb-cities-battle-over-illegal-short-term-rentals.html
San Francisco has also been aggressive in its efforts to crack down on illegal short-term rentals. The city holds short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway responsible for monitoring their listings, and they can be fined up to $1,000 per day for each illegal listing. Hosts can also be fined at least $484 per day for each unit in violation.
The moral of this story? Don’t lie, don’t deal with this nightmare of fines.
Make your vacation property available to your real network of friends and family with Stayy.app and be sure to check your own local laws to stay legal.