Ryan Alter looks forward to new short-term rental rules

City Council has not met since Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled that the city’s short-term rental ordinance is unconstitutional. That ordinance, passed by Council in 2016, requires that owners of short-term rental properties claim their rental property as their homestead. Last year, José Roig, the director of Austin’s Code Department, told Council that a majority of the city’s short-term rentals were operating without licenses. At that time, Roig said that “there are anywhere between 9,000 and 11,000 STR listings in Austin, depending on the day, but only around 2,000 of those are licensed.” Council Member Ryan Alter already is looking forward to fixing the problem. He told the Austin Monitor on Thursday, “It didn’t take our courts to tell us that the city’s STR policy isn’t working. My office has been exploring opportunities to improve the current regime for some time, and this decision further solidifies that we must act. Once we get past the budget, I look forward to working with my colleagues on a new STR policy that will enhance compliance, revenue collection and quality of life for our neighborhoods throughout Austin.”