US: Officials in San Leandro, northern California, are accepting registrations for short-term rental operators to legalise hosted rentals.
The San Leandro City Council recently approved ordinances to regulate short-term rentals in San Leandro by establishing requirements for hosted short-term rentals and banning non-hosted rentals, which are short-term rentals of homes to paid guests when a host or owner isn’t present
during their stay.
City officials said a short-term rental is defined as a rental of part or all of a residential dwelling unit to paying occupants for less than 30 days. They said such rentals are typically advertised and booked through online platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO.
In a hosted short-term rental, according to the city, the primary occupant of the dwelling unit within which the rental takes place occupies the dwelling during the entire rental period. The city said penalties for operating a non-hosted short-term rentals include fines of $1,000 per violation and legal action by the city, including criminal prosecution.
Hosted rentals are subject to certain restrictions, including a cap on renting them for no more than 180 days a year.
In addition, accessory dwelling units such as legalised in-law units are prohibited from being short-term dwelling units. San Leandro officials said that to legally operate a hosted rental an applicant must first obtain a city business license and a short-term rental permit through the San Leandro Finance Department and be subject to a transient-occupancy tax of 14 percent of actual gross rental income.
The city said it is working with the firm Host Compliance to identify currently identifiable and listed short-term rental operators. They will be sent a notice for a 60-day grace period to legalise hosted rental dwelling units by or before November 29th.
