Philadelphia city council bill aims to curb Airbnb hosts

Neighbors on the 800 block of Wharton Street in South Philadelphia describe crowded weekend evenings at an Airbnb on their street, where during summer and winter, guests regularly poured out onto the sidewalks and the streets. The doors slammed. The guests left empty bottles and threw up. Music, screams and horns sometimes didn’t stop until 4 a.m.

The property owner rents the townhouse to the tenants, not to the guests of the short-term rental company. The property is one of nearly 100 Airbnbs listed by Pad Suites, a management company, in four cities. The home owner declined to comment and is speaking to a lawyer.

A City council bill tabled this month would end complicated arrangements like this. This would require those offering their primary residence for short-term rental either to own the properties or to tenants who have obtained written permission from the owner to profit from the use of the properties by others. The city would treat them like businesses and require them to obtain free business activity licenses as well as limited hosting operator licenses offered for $ 150 per year. City officials adapted legislation from similar rules in New York and Boston.

The law requires licenses even if residents only rent their homes a few weekends a year. Current municipal law requires permits for those who rent homes for more than 90 days a year. Some operators voluntarily stay below the threshold to avoid regulations. If the bill passes, everyone – landlords and tenants – who rents a home must also use licensed reservation agents and adhere to local zoning requirements.

READ MORE: How a scammer used Airbnb to rent an apartment in Philly he didn’t even own

City officials and police are receiving complaints from people living in neighborhoods across the city about guests throwing parties disrupting quiet residential streets. Neighbors have reported fights, drug trafficking and shootings at short-term rental sites.

Shots rang out from a rental along Wood Street just outside the Old Town at the end of May. The house, which had been listed on Airbnb for a few years, “unbeknownst to the rest of us was starting to become a party center,” said Alice Reyes, vice president of Franklin Bridge North Neighbors, the community organization registered that covers the from the Ben Franklin Bridge to Callowhill Street and from I-95 to North Sixth Street.

“The neighbor whose house collides with this house, they moved for six months, because they couldn’t take it anymore,” Reyes said. The owner of the Airbnb property has sold the property, but several other party houses in the area are still listed on the platform.

One of the main issues with short-term rentals is that no one knows how to contact the people renting the property, said city council member Mark Squilla, who introduced the bill. Requiring licenses allows the city to know who manages the rentals and who to contact if there is a problem, he said.

“We believe that by doing this we will have more control over the bad operators,” Squilla said, adding that he was not trying to get rid of Airbnbs. “We want to make sure that they don’t have a negative impact on the communities in which they are found. “

In a statement, a spokesperson for Airbnb said the company is reviewing the proposed legislation and “look[s] I look forward to working with the city to ensure that short-term rentals can be an important part of Philadelphia’s post-pandemic recovery.

A year ago, Airbnb started procedures to verify listings. In August, the company announced a worldwide holiday ban. In November alone, the platform suspended or removed dozens of ads in Philadelphia for violating party policies.

In addition to notifying Airbnb, neighbors say they call the police, watch agents tell occupants not to budge, and see the parties continue after the agents leave. Enforcement of Squilla’s legislation would be essential, Franklin Bridge North Association executives said.

“It will be up to the residents to keep an eye and an ear open and to document and facilitate this process with the city,” Reyes said. “We just hope the city responds to that.”

READ MORE: South Jersey town approves move to ban Airbnbs after complaints of wild parties at Muhammad Ali’s former mansion

The Hapco Philadelphia Homeowners Association is working on a landlord lease model that explicitly states that tenants are prohibited from renting out their homes without their landlord’s permission, said Paul Cohen, attorney for association. Cohen said he had never seen a lease allowing tenants to use their home in this way. When the leases don’t mention the rental of the unit at all, “you’re in the gray area” and open to disputes, he said.

Rue Landau, a housing law professor at Temple Law School and former executive director of the city’s Fair Housing Commission, said she sees the value in ensuring housing operators are licensed.

“Much like rental housing, it is a good idea for the City of Philadelphia to create a license for limited accommodation operators, so that the city knows who operates these businesses and rents these properties in an emergency or for have direct contact with the company. operators, ”she said.

Robert Gurmankin, chairman of Franklin Bridge North Neighbors, said he hoped that new Airbnbs regulation might take some relief from neighbors. Over the winter, rowdy gatherings in his neighborhood fell silent.

But, he said, “we are afraid we will have the same problem in the spring.”