by Asha Prihar and published in BillyPen.com
Philadelphia appears to be getting serious about licensing for Airbnbs and similar short-term rental properties. Two years after a law tightened requirements, the city says it’s started the process of getting listings pulled down from the web if the hosts aren’t complying with the rules.
Earlier this month, the Department of Licenses and Inspections started notifying websites like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com of properties listed on their sites that have yet to meet the city’s zoning and licensing requirements.
By law, those websites are required to take down out-of-compliance listings in Philly within five business days.
The city estimates somewhere between 1,500 and 1,700 short-term rental properties haven’t gotten the proper permits and licenses, per a July 12 press release.
The effort to delist those — at least until they’re in compliance — is the latest step toward making sure people are actually following the requirements established in a 2021 law.
Previously slated to go into effect in July 2022, the city extended that deadline to Jan. 1 of this year to give hosts more time to get the proper zoning permits and licenses.
“This deadline does not remove the legal requirement for short-term rentals to be licensed,” the city’s blog post on the extension reads. “It just extends the deadline by which platforms must collect a valid license number from hosts.”
Enforcement kicked off at the “beginning of this year,” according to Shemeka D. Moore, spokesperson for the city Department of Licenses and Inspections, when the agency “requested specific information from booking agents via subpoenas.” The delisting effort “is the next phase of enforcement,” Moore said.
Read the full article at https://billypenn.com/2023/07/26/philadelphia-airbnb-vrbo-short-term-rental-license/
Editor's Note:
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