When the legislature years ago created a unifying framework for short-term rentals and the taxation thereof, many of us noted that we would certainly have to come back at some point to adjust the statute.

Unfortunately, the Governor and the Legislature have not done enough to protect neighbors from misuse by short-term renters.

As realtors who have helped people purchase homes to use a short-term rentals, we’ve been horrified by the misuse (as well as the damage they have done to market supply), and we applaud any efforts to balance the scales.

So, we share with you the following announcements from Neighbors Not Nightmares, an effort to improve the Arizona Revised Statute at the Legislature:

“What’s the big deal?” you ask?  Paradise Valley is the only police department we know of that tracks whether calls are about residences or short-term rentals.  In the first 6 months of 2020, 45% of their nuisance and noise calls were about STRs.  That’s 16 TIMES the frequency for residences!

The Neighbors Not Nightmares (NNN) team is asking everyone to START MAKING NOISE and let their AZ State Representatives know that they need to DO SOMETHING about the plague of whole-house short term rentals (“STRs”) taking over our single-family neighborhoods!  Remind your legislator that you chose to live in single-family zoned neighborhoods, not a commercial district!

Ask your legislator to support HB 2481 in its current form – This bill, introduced by Rep. John Kavanaugh, is similar to last year’s 1554 that was nearly passed before the pandemic shut the session down early. This time, however, it gives counties, cities, and towns more room to regulate short term rentals.

This bill is also supported by the League of Cities and Towns, Take Action Phoenix, Neighborhoods Connect, and many Arizona cities and towns: 

HB 2481 – Modifies the list of regulations that counties and municipalities are authorized to impose on vacation rentals or short-terms rentals to include requiring the owner of a vacation rental or short-term rental to license or register with the county or municipality, and restricting the occupancy of a vacation rental or short-term rental to the lesser of the occupancy limit of the county or municipality or 2 adults per bedroom plus 2 additional adults. Vacation rentals and short-term rentals cannot advertise to exceed the occupancy limit of the dwelling or for any nonresidential use. Counties and municipalities are authorized to impose a civil penalty for each day a property is in violation of this advertisement prohibition. An online lodging operator that falsifies information to an online lodging marketplace is guilty of a petty offense. A county or municipality cannot prohibit the operation of a vacation rental or short-term rental based solely on its status as a vacation rental or short-term rental if the owner of the vacation rental or short-term rental, as of May 1, 2021, has a valid transaction privilege tax license, and as of June 2, 2021, has provided the owner’s or the owner’s designee’s contact information to the county or municipality in which the vacation rental or short-term rental is located, if required by ordinance

*** The STR industry has their own legislation, SB 1379, which is progressing through the state senate. This bill removes any reference to residential enforcement and zoning.  Let your legislator know that you oppose SB1379!

You can find your legislator here.