With Austin on pace to have more than 13,000 hotel rooms in the downtown core by 2020 – nearly double the number of rooms in 2014 – the construction of new chain and boutique hotels continues to have an impact in local business and political spheres. On the other side of the hospitality coin is […]
short term rentals
Properties rented for fewer than 30 days.
Posted inCity Council
Taxes from unregistered short-term rentals sit unused
Millions of dollars in tax revenue from unregistered short-term rental properties sits unused because the city cannot collect it, according to Visitor Impact Task Force Chair James Russell. In 2016, City Council passed an ordinance to phase out Type 2 short-term rentals, properties that owners rent out without living there and for less than 30 […]
Posted inThe Code
Regulation Vacation: City collects taxes from unlawful Airbnbs
Becca Dobberfuhl has a name for her Bouldin Creek home. “It’s all this rusty, rusty, rusty color,” she said. “And the house is a modern house and it has a box-like look to it so we call it the ‘Rusty Box.’” Users of short-term rental company Airbnb can pay to stay in the “Rusty Box” […]
Posted inThe Code
Former Code director’s delay put STR renewals in limbo
The former Code Department Director Carl Smart’s decision to pause judgment of several appeals from Type 2 short-term rental owners became clear over the course of the July 26 meeting of the Building and Standards Commission, over a year after many of the appellants’ licenses had expired. “I don’t want to say he was stalling,” […]
Posted inThe Code
Code Department proposes higher fines for violations
Code violators will pay bigger fines for a number of offenses under a new ordinance that City Council is poised to approve. Under the proposed ordinance drafted by the Code Department, the minimum fine for a first offense related to property maintenance rises dramatically, from $20 to $250. The minimum for the second offense would […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Mayor, Troxclair check in at the Capitol to talk short-term rentals
Mayor Steve Adler and City Council Member Ellen Troxclair took their disagreement over the city’s short-term rental regulations to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday evening. Both testified before the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce on Senate Bill 451, a measure that reverses new rules passed by Council last year. Those rules are set to […]
Posted inAustin
Short-term rentals under scrutiny as SXSW kicks off
The Austin Code Department has started its annual tradition of stepped-up monitoring and enforcement of regulations covering short-term rental businesses, the official policy name for homeowners who rent out extra rooms to tourists visiting for the South by Southwest festival. The lucrative practice, which is aided by websites such as Airbnb and the Austin-based HomeAway, […]
Posted inCourts
Homeowners sue over neighbors’ rowdy parties
Tormented by loud, amplified music that lasted all night, drunken partygoers trespassing onto their property, cars blocking their driveway and “a parade of people coming to their door late at night ‘looking for the party,’” East Austin homeowners Christian Hartnett and Amanda Giffort filed suit against their neighbors. Judge Amy Clark Meachum on Friday granted […]
Posted inThe Code
Austin homeowners, hotel industry spar over city’s STR ordinance
The city of Austin is facing legal action over its rules governing short-term rentals. But some in the hospitality industry say those rentals should have to play by the same rules as hotels. Short-term rental supporters and critics sparred over the issue yesterday. Last month, a group of homeowners and renters sued the city of […]
Posted inCourts
City faces lawsuit over short-term rental ordinance
A group of homeowners and renters are suing the city of Austin over its effort to regulate short-term rental units, or STRs, like those you’d find on sites such as Airbnb or HomeAway. The suit claims several problems with the city’s STR ordinance, from a cap on the number of occupants to a 10 p.m. curfew. […]
Posted inThe Code
Ethics complaint against CM Renteria delayed
Did City Council Member Pio Renteria violate city code by participating in recent revisions to the Short Term Rental Ordinance? That question will be left for another day, after a Wednesday night ruling that the complaint filed by Thomas Clark against Renteria needs some work. At its most recent meeting, the Ethics Review Commission was […]
Posted inCity Council
Ethics complaint filed against Council Member Renteria
The owner of a short-term rental business has filed an ethics complaint against City Council Member Pio Renteria, alleging that he violated city conflict-of-interest rules by pushing for an ordinance approved last month that will eventually phase out short-term rental units in Austin that are not owner-occupied, otherwise known as Type 2 STRs. Thomas J. […]