ANC votes against D.C. bill that would make stricter limits on Airbnb

In a 9-0 unanimous vote, ANC 2B has voted against Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie's short term bill, titled, “Short-Term Rental Regulation and Housing Protection Act of 2017.”

In a statement, ANC 2B said, “The proposed legislation is overly restrictive, does not take into account the unique living situations of local residents living in the nation’s capital and the needs of visitors, and does not address its stated goal of increasing affordable housing in the neighborhood.”

The bill was first introduced on February 2017. The legislation would require residents who use services like Airbnb to need a new business license that would be created for short-term rentals. [UPDATE: It’s worth mentioning that hosts are already currently required to get a permit.]

According to WAMU, there is one exception, which is that a vacation rental may be rented for up to 15 days per year without the owner being present.

Violations would cost between $1,000 and $7,000 with half of the proceeds set aside for the Housing Production Trust Fund, which preserves and develops affordable housing.

In January of this year, there were 4,247 active hosts in D.C. with 6,021 active listings with 3,6000 of those hosts only having one listing, as reported by WAMU. Since 2015, the vacation rental site, Airbnb, has brought $12 million to Washington, D.C. in hotel taxes.

• Stricter limits proposed for Airbnb in D.C. [Curbed DC]

• New Bill Would Put Strict Limits On Airbnb And Other Home-Sharing Services In D.C. [WAMU]

[UPDATE: A previous version of this article stated that the bill would limit residents to renting out a single housing unit (e.g., room, basement) and require that they also live on the property. While the bill limits hosts to only sharing their primary residence, there is no limit to the number of people or units hosts can house in there.]