Community meeting scheduled on short-term rentals
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| This guest bedroom in Annandale is available on Airbnb for $50 a night. |
Local residents are invited to attend a meeting on the growth of short-term lodging/rentals, such as Airbnb, in local neighborhoods.
The meeting, hosted by the Mason District Council of Community Associations, is Oct. 5, 7-9 p.m., at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School, 3333 Sleepy Hollow Road.
Panelists include state senators David Marsden and Richard Saslaw, Del. Kaye Kory, and representatives from Fairfax County.
The key topic will be the Limited Residential Lodging Act (SB416), which was passed by the Virginia Assembly in April and is undergoing further study for completion by Dec. 1.
The act allows people to rent out their primary residence or portions of their home for less than 30 consecutive days through a hosting platform such as Airbnb, VRBO, or Homeaway.
Localities would be pre-empted from adopting ordinances or zoning restriction prohibiting such short-term rentals.
The law, however, allows localities to adopt ordinances requiring people renting their primary residences under one of these hosting companies to have a minimum of $500,000 of liability insurance and register with the locality. Localities could prohibit homeowners from renting their home if they fail to pay applicable taxes.
Hosting companies must register with the Department of Taxation to collect and remit all applicable taxes on behalf of the property owner.
The measure also directs the Virginia Housing Commission to convene a work group to further study the issues presented in the bill and make recommendations for consideration in the 2017 session of the General Assembly.
10 responses to “Community meeting scheduled on short-term rentals”
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I'd be more concerned about the rise of AirBnBs if we were closer to fixed-rail transit, but we are not. I think this is much ado about nothing in Mason District. There is a much higher concentration of AirBNBs in Arlington and Alexandria proper.
AirBNBs are actually a growing concern in the Seven Corners area. Time to address it early. Glad to see MDC recognizes this.
Maybe the County can impose a tax on short-term renters, instead of a meals tax–78% of which would be paid by FFX County residents. I would expect virtually 100% of a short-term rental tax would be paid by non-residents/non-real-estate tax payers.
I would support any measure to discourage this activity in residential neighborhoods. As a homeowner, I purchased my home to join a community, not to live next to a hotel next to different people every month or even every week. This type of activity is loathsome to me and as inconsiderate of your neighbors as you can possibly be. The people renting their homes are placing a few dollars over the value of the community, to the detriment of their neighbors who may have to deal with loud parties, strangers with sometimes strange habits, and even a possible criminal element that somehow got through the background check.
You have absolutely no idea what airbnb is, do you?
Looking at Annandale on airbnb.com , I see that a bunch of the listings for "Whole House" are also houses that I happen to know are on sale. So basically, sellers trying to move their house are also wringing a couple of bucks out of it while it's unoccupied. Clever move.
Im concerned about the fact that this law bars localities from enforcing their own restrictions, and think about HOAs that might have covenants against rentals – what is the imact to them? The state should not be forcing a way of life on a neighborhood.
That being said, I do think short term rentals are in the end OK if properly regulated. We live in a very expensive place to live, and so some people may be performing short term rentals as a way to make ends meet. As long as they are doing so in a way that doesn't break zoning ordinances (max occupancy, sound/noise, etc), and we hold the homeowner responsible for what their guests do, then we shouldn't get in the way of letting folks earn some cash from a spare bedroom.
To:What's Really Going On…9/25/16, 9:27 PM
It is unfathomable that the county wants a meals tax that would burden its already overtax homeowner residents and others.
A hotel tax would be a better 1st step to raising money. Other jurisdictions charge up to 12% for hotel tax. Why hasn't this been put up for referendum?
Maybe because there is already a hotel tax in fairfax county?
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta/tax_rates.htm
Yes. And there is already a 6% sales tax on meals and virtually everything else one purchases in FFX. When is enough enough?