Proposed Bill Would Outlaw Nearly Half of Cleveland's Airbnbs

Stricter regulations on short-term rentals could be coming soon to Cleveland. Writing for Cleveland Scene, Mark Oprea reports that legislation has been introduced to the city council that would enact a new “suite of rules,” including one that would prohibit short-term rentals from allowing stays of over a month. While that might seem like a huge deal — short-term rentals are meant to be short-term after all, right? — the change would effectively ban 44 percent of them; that’s the share of short-term rentals in the city with a minimum stay of 30 nights or more.

In addition to prohibiting bookings longer than a month, the new ordinance “would require Airbnb and Vrbo hosts to register annually for detailed licenses, limit the number of guests that can be at a rental, and restrict the number of short-term rentals in any given area/block/building.”

The bill’s sponsors say the move is necessary “to weed out both bad actors herding good properties away from home-seekers and put the kibosh on noisy and unruly Airbnbers causing apparent havoc to neighbors,” Oprea writes, adding that the legislation echoes the city’s Residents First laws that require real estate investors to have local agents cities can contact and fine.

The new ordinance could be voted on as soon as early June. But, as Oprea points out, even if it’s passed, short-term rental hosts could just ignore it like they did in New York City, which tried to crack down on Airbnbs last year.