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A proposed bill in Cleveland could effectively ban nearly half of the city’s short-term rentals.
Ordinance 588, introduced by Cleveland City Council members Kerry McCormack and Jenny Spencer, aims to ban all short-term rentals that have minimum stays of 30 nights — which currently accounts for 44 percent of Cleveland’s short-term rental stock, according to AirDNA.
“Residential properties used by individuals for short periods of time can negatively impact the neighborhood’s residential character that first encouraged people to purchase homes in that neighborhood; transient visitors taking the place of permanent residents can destroy the unity, communication and accountability between permanent residents,” the legislation reads.
The legislation also includes a string of new rules for VRBO and Airbnb rentals, including the requirement that they register annually for detailed licenses, cap the number of guests who can stay in a rental, and adhere to a restriction on the number of short-term rentals that can be in a given neighborhood, block or apartment building.
Other proposed regulations include a requirement that rental operators show proof of at least $300,000 in liability insurance and have a registered point person who can show up to a property within an hour if any issues arise.
The legislation comes after years of quality-of-life complaints from locals living near short-term rentals.
“I will tell you, the amount of complaints, emails, phone calls from desperate residents who rightfully are furious because properties connected to them, in some cases next to them, are absolutely out of control,” McCormack told the Cleveland Scene. “And the property owners could care less about them.”
The ordinance could be voted on by the full city council as soon as June, according to the Scene.
“Home sharing has been an important part of the fabric of Cleveland for decades, enabling the City to welcome visitors whose spending supports local businesses and creates economic opportunity for residents.” an Airbnb spokesperson said in a statement. “We welcome the opportunity to work with the City of Cleveland on fair, balanced rules that provide certainty and clarity for Hosts and continue to bolster the local tourism economy.”
Cleveland’s crackdown comes after New York City passed one of the nation’s strictest short-term rental regulations in 2023, which took the opposite approach of banning short-term rentals from accepting tenants for less than 30 days, requires all short-term rentals to register and be approved by the city, as well as banning companies like Airbnb from collecting fees from unregistered rentals. The ban has drastically reduced the number of Airbnbs in New York City after passing last summer, yet some non-compliant rentals continue to slip through the cracks.
San Francisco has a similar requirement that hosts be registered with the city and live at their rented property for at least 275 days per year, but a 2019 investigation by NBC Bay Area found nearly half of the city’s short-term rental hosts were lying on their applications about living on their property for the required amount of time.
VRBO did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
