A bill to be introduced at the City Council on Monday would apply the city’s 9.5 percent hotel tax to Airbnbs and other short-term rental properties, and would require all operators to obtain a license from the city.

The bill is set to be formally introduced at the council’s meeting Monday by City Councilman Eric Costello and City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young.

Costello said that the city’s Department of Finance would handle the licensing process, and that any operator looking to rent out a space would need to obtain the license before making the posting public online. Any operator caught violating any of the city’s codes — fire, housing, etc. — could have their license suspended or revoked.

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Read the full article at bizjournals.com/baltimore

The Baltimore City Council is set to take up a bill imposing strict rules on short-term rentals made through Airbnb and other sites, sharply limiting people’s ability to rent out anything other than their home.

The proposed legislation would also impose the city’s 9.5 percent hotel tax on such rentals.

The bill is scheduled to be introduced Monday by Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Councilman Eric Costello.

Airbnb and other platforms emerged as a way for people to rent out spare rooms in their homes but have also become a thriving market for vacation apartment rentals, creating a new industry of people who own property solely to rent through the sites.

That has irked the hotel and bed and breakfast industries, which argue that Airbnb hosts are skirting regulations and gaining an unfair advantage, but the proposed bill would likely upend the businesses of many of the hundreds of Airbnb hosts in Baltimore were it to pass.

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Read the full article at baltimoresun.com

The Baltimore City Council was all set to consider sweeping new regulations for online rental sites like Airbnb next week, including a ban on people renting out houses or apartments that aren’t their primary places of residence.

That plan abruptly changed late Friday.

Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young was the lead sponsor of the measure, which was included in a publicly posted draft agenda for the council’s Monday meeting. But after being asked about it, Young’s office said the bill would be pulled back.

Lester Davis, a spokesman for Young, said the bill was inadvertently advanced beyond the drafting stage.