notAgrandma
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In the city where I'm located, a dozen B&B owners have been asking city officials for years to regulate Short-Term Rentals. Right now, STRs aren't required to have business licenses, aren't inspected by the city, and aren't collecting city sales & tourism taxes. Last year, my city lost over $1 million in tax revenue from just Airbnbs alone, based on the earnings data that Airbnb openly shares on its website (it's helpful that they even break their earnings down by state and individual cities!) When Airbnb first took root in my city 3 years ago, there were about 300. Now there are over 1000 and 60% are not owner occupied (a stat provided by the website AirDNA). City officials recently met with Airbnb, held town hall meetings, and met privately with B&B owners to discuss the development of STR regulations. As of today, nothing has been done and the deadline for proposing new city regulations in 2018 is quickly approaching. The deadline for B&Bs to pay the renewal fees for our city business licenses is June 1 and many B&Bs are stating that they're not going to pay.
My point in bringing up all of this information is that several B&B owners are considering filing a class action lawsuit against our city. We are unfairly subjected to regulations, fees, and taxes that are not imposed on STRs. Has anyone heard of any B&Bs taking this sort of legal action against their city? If not, do you think it's something that might be considered in your area?
My point in bringing up all of this information is that several B&B owners are considering filing a class action lawsuit against our city. We are unfairly subjected to regulations, fees, and taxes that are not imposed on STRs. Has anyone heard of any B&Bs taking this sort of legal action against their city? If not, do you think it's something that might be considered in your area?