Only 6 Apply For Portland’s New Airbnb Permit
Monday, September 15, 2014
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The city on Sept 2 started accepting permits for residents looking to rent out rooms through Airbnb. The city has no specific plans to go out and enforce the new law, according to the Bureau of Development Services.
The new permitting system legalized many Airbnb-style rentals after a public struggle with neighborhood advocates wary of a potential wave of short-term rentals in their communities. Portland’s city council minted the new rules in July and set up a tax on the rentals, to be collected by Airbnb.
In March, the San Francisco-based company announced it planned to open its North American headquarters in Portland’s Old Town.
“There is no change in how we process enforcement,” explained Ross Caron, communications officer at the city’s permitting division.
All of the city’s enforcement is complaint-based. For those who have been renting out rooms for years without complaints from neighbors, there might be little incentive to bother with getting an official permit.
Even if there is a complaint, someone who rents out a room would not be fined. He or she would simply have to apply for the appropriate permit, which costs $180 and requires a safety inspection.
If a property owner decided to ignore the first notice, he or she would face a fine for every month that the property continued to operate without a permit.
Regardless of the number of Airbnb users who have decided to apply for a permit, Airbnb has started collecting lodging taxes from all transactions in Oregon.
The city did not disclose how much revenue had been generated so far.
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