Short-Term Rental Battle Rages Anew

San Franciscans can be forgiven for thinking this was a settled matter, but the city’s heated debate over how to regulate legal short-term rental services such as Airbnb or VRBO has entered another round. A measure for the November ballot would change regulations for the rental providers, limiting lessors to 75 days per year in short-term rentals.

The measure would also force short-term rental companies to exclude listings from lessors that are not registered with the city, which was a centerpiece of legislation last year that legalized the industry in San Francisco. ShareBetterSF, a coalition of housing interests that is sponsoring the ballot initiative, issued a statement declaring “Holding hosting platforms ac-countable for unregistered listings is the surest and most efficient path to effective enforcement and an end to the proliferation of illegal conversions of residential units to tourist accommodations. The Board [of Supervisors]’ majority continues to resist this common-sense approach, instead granting hosting platforms immunity from any consequences for their complicity in facilitating the loss of housing.”

In turn, Airbnb claims that San Francisco stands to lose $58 million in tax revenue over 10 years if the ballot measure passes.