Portland regulators, through the city’s revenue department,t have reached a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb requiring the short-term rental company to provide data to the city and to remove listings that violate Portland’s regulations.
Airbnb will have to provide the city the names and addresses of hosts to the city.
Thomas Lannom, the director of Portland’s Revenue Bureau, called the data-sharing agreement “the toughest in the nation” in an email to the mayor and city council, according to reports.
“We appreciate Airbnb’s willingness to engage with the City of Portland on the pass-through registration data-sharing agreement. We look forward to turning the page on our past disagreements,” Lannom said in a release.
Effective November 1, 2019, Airbnb will launch an online registration system requiring new hosts to share their data with the City of Portland and asking existing hosts to allow their data to be shared with the city. Hosts that do not consent to having their data shared will be removed from the Airbnb website by January 1, 2020.
Portland Airbnb regulations mean Airbnb to pay cost of registration deal
Airbnb has agreed to pay the city’s revenue division $20,000 for the implementation of the new system and $5,000 per year thereafter for its maintenance and support. The Portland-Airbnb pass-through registration agreement is the most comprehensive such agreement in the country according to officials.
“We are pleased to have worked with Portland lawmakers to update the registration process, making it easier for hosts to register and providing tools that allow the City to enforce its laws. This solution protects home sharing and helps the city enforce short-term rental registration while safeguarding the privacy and safety of our hosts and guests. Over the coming weeks, we will continue working closely with the city and our community to help bring our hosts into compliance,” said Laura Spanijan, Airbnb Senior Public Policy Director, in a release.
Mayor Ted Wheeler had pushed for the changes last year after city auditors found many short-term rentals operating illegally without permits and some using fictitious hosts. “Airbnb and other short-term rental companies have been operating like ‘the Wild Wild West’ in Portland, but now ‘there’s a new sheriff in town.’ ”
Resources:
Portland Launches New Airbnb Data-sharing Agreement
Portland Reaches Rental Data Sharing Agreement with Airbnb
Portland Mayor To Take On Short-Term Fake Rental Owners And Airbnb
