Do you believe that the COVID-19 restrictions in you state (USA only0 are discriminatory against short term rentals?

[Laura2918]

In Michigan one can stay at a hotel or motel which remain operational, but I am not allowed to receive guests at my single family home.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Yes I do think its discriminatory. As is Airbnb blocking bookings in the UK due to lockdown but not apparently doing the same in the USA where states are in lockdown.

[Debra300]

@Mike-And-Jane0,

Although it may seem contradictory, but not every state that has/had a stay in place order with a corresponding restriction on short term rentals.  In Georgia, the governor issued a stay at home order on April 1, but it wasn't until April 9 that he issued a restriction on STRs until April 30.  However, if a reservation had already been paid for prior to April 9, it didn't have to be canceled.  Also, there was a gray area that would have allowed for renting to front-line and essential workers.

From my online research, there have been numerous cities and counties that have instituted temporary bans on STRs (because there is no statewide ban), but only a handful of states, about 12%, have imposed similar bans: Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Delaware, Maine and Vermont.

Airbnb sent me an email notification and placed an alert on my dashboard about the Georgia STR restriction.  They also have a page with links that go directly to the official documents.  Since I had already blocked off my calendar until mid-June, I don't know if Airbnb blocked calendars of Georgia listings for the remainder of April.

[Laura2918]

Thanks for your response! I find it interesting that Michigan didn't show up in your state research, as I've heard our governor is one of the most restrictive.

[Laura2918]

...perhaps you were saying, in addition to Michigan?

[Debra300]

@Laura2918,

I love how you added more bits as they came to mind.  You posed a good question about the omission of my birth state (yes, I was born a Upper in Chippewa County, and moved as an infant when my father was re-stationed).  So, I did some more research, and still the Great Lakes state didn't appear on the list of states with a current STR restriction: https://www.avalara.com/mylodgetax/en/blog/2020/04/states-restrict-short-term-rentals-in-response-to.... However, it appears that Michigan Executive Order 2020-42, which restricts STRs is set to expire this Friday, May 15.  Is that correct?

You may choose to pursue a class action lawsuit, because you think that big government has infringed upon your civil liberties.  Personally, I feel that state and local governments without getting  singular cohesive federal leadership regarding a COVID-19 response plan are already under great pressure to do what they felt is best for their citizens.  They are running broke, but still need to provide public services with almost no incoming revenue.  For me, I don't think it's in the greater interest of a local community for anyone to try to extract  their seven pounds of flesh from their state's meager coffers.

[Molly277]

Michigan's ban has now been extended to June 12.  

[Debra300]

@Laura2918,

I am not familiar with Michigan's laws regarding privacy and private property, but in Georgia the government is not allowed to enter a personal residence to perform inspections.  This is a topic of great debate with state legislators regarding domestic short term rentals.

If the law is similar in Michigan, I believe that the governor is restricting STRs in shared dwellings, because there isn't a legal method to inspect and insure that COVID-19 guidelines are being followed.  However, they can conduct inspections in any hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, hostel, or dormitory that is listed as a commercial STR business.

[Linda108]

Air BNB is one class of short term rentals in my city, along with hotels and motels.  Right now none are allowed to be open. City is losing a great deal of money by  not allowing any visitors to book short term (under 30 days).  No discrimination.  All in the same in boat.

[Nanxing0]

I agree as well. In Pennsylvania the governor's order is the same that residential STR are prohibited while hotels/motels can remain open. This is non-sense as they consider hotels have better management but also you need to consider the nature of hotel lobby and the number of guests sharing the common area and facilities. With this view I think hotels are way more dangerous in terms of spreading the disease.

Similar problem also happens with groceries and supermarkets. The government has shut down most small business but allow large supermarkets like Walmart, Target etc to stay open. The fact is that in those large supermarkets you have tens to hundreds of people walking around while for a lot of small business or small grocery stores there are only a couple to a few people. Which one is more dangerous?

[Laura2918]

Would you have any interest in a class action law suit? My personal concern is that we will loose our whole summer income, and not be able to pay our mortgage!

[Sarah977]

The thing is, while you may be super responsible about the necessary cleaning protocols, there's plenty of hosts who wouldn't be. Just like there's plenty of hosts who list places that most of us would be embarrassed to offer.  As one of my guests once told me in private feedback- "That was one of the best Airbnb stays I've had. You wouldn't believe the crap some people actually have the gall to charge money for."

[Laura2918]

I understand this, but I also believe that there are hotels and motels that clean & disinfect poorly. All of them are allowed to function.

[Helen3]

In the UK all STRs, hotels, camping sites have been banned  from taking visitors as have stays in second homes....and so they should be.

Like the US we have one of the highest death rates in the world and we all need to do all we can to help prevent the spread of the virus.

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  The rules are totally random.  Why should a hotel/motel be able to be open because they agree to XX cleaning but not a vacation rental property that agrees to the same thing? 

For that matter, from the perspective of sanitizing and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus, the vast majority of businesses could have remained open with new cleaning and distancing rules in place, instead of the somewhat random decision making on what has been allowed to be open vs. closed.