New Orleans STR Regulations - Questions

[Michael134]

Hello All,

I am currently a host in New Orleans with an 'entire home' listing. In reality it is an efficiency/studio apartment in what used to be a garage, so it's a seperate building. I have a few questions about this as far as the new regulations go.

Should I instead label it as a private room for compliance with new rules and general accuracy of the listing? (It is a completely separate building but I want to avoid the 90-day limit)

Where can I find a list of all the new rules/Regulations?

As I always live on-site in the seperate house when renting it out, am I subject to the 90-day/year rental limitations?

I have read that you are automatically registered for the necessary permit but was wondering if this is true and, if not, where/how I can register and if so, how I can confirm I am registered. 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Bekah-And-Brian0]

But Josh, if that was the case there is no way to manage WHAT 90 days you book without agressively monitorring/managing your airBNB calendar. What if you're booked solid for April and May then you get a booking for September. It's not so much applying for a new T license every booking, more like applying (and waiting for!) a T license for each chunk of time booked, which is nearly impossible to know when using airbnb as your platform. 

I reeeeaaaaaly don't think they mean you can keep applying. I really think they meant ANY 90 days per year per license. 

[Josh9]

"But Josh, if that was the case there is no way to manage WHAT 90 days you book without agressively monitorring/managing your airBNB calendar."

Correct. I don't think the City gives a cr@p whether it's convenient for you to manage your bookings. You just have to limit short-term renting to 90 days a year for whole home (not accessory) rentals, period.

[Jerry154]

wow this sounds like a mess as far a managments and wording. I cant imagine how anyone would keep this stright. 

[Bekah-And-Brian0]

Apologies for blowing up this thread but I just found this in an article. Plus I think this is pointing a second time. Sorry. Why they didn't make nested replies in the community center I will never understand. 

I do think it's a cap. 90 rentable days per year for a T license of either variety, needing a reapplication for a new T license after the year is through, with airBNB keeping track of the number of nights spent, sleeping the listing once the cap is hit OR reporting that the host has exceeded 90 IF the city askes them. The city is banking on hosts ignoring the 90 night cap and getting caught eventually, and I assume punished with mighty high penalty fees (as yet unannounced)

"To keep track of property owners' 90-day annual cap, Airbnb will provide monthly reports to the city on the number of days that listings are rented out through the site. That data will be anonymized, and the city must issue administrative subpoenas to get identifying information about a property suspected of exceeding the cap..."

[Casey26]

So, I'm guessing no one can say with 100% certainty that you can rent out for more than 90 days for the year under temporary short term rental status? That's really all I need to know right now. If after the 90 days are up you can get another license for another 90.

[Josh9]

"That's really all I need to know right now. If after the 90 days are up you can get another license for another 90."

For accessory rentals, yes, you can. 

The upshot of all this is that if you have an accessory rental, you really don't even need to think about T licenses unless, for some reason, you want to do short-term renting part of the year and you want to save some money on licensing by doing multiple 90-day licenses and pay $50 each for them, and not spend $200 for a whole-year license.

I think the vast majority of people who have an accessory unit should just get an A license for $200 and not have to worry about it for a year. You can still get a long-term tenant in there if you decide to do that. 

[Josh9]

"I do think it's a cap. 90 rentable days per year for a T license of either variety"

There's no cap for accessory rentals. If you get a T-license, that license only lasts 90 days, so yes, you are limited to 90 days iunder that license. But you can rent your accessory unit out 365 days a year, whether you want to do it by getting a single, one-year license for $200, or periodically getting temporary (90-day) licenses for $50 each.

[Casey26]

Yeah, that's what it seems like. This sucks, I don't want to have to live in the place to be able to rent it out the entire year. And finding the right place to buy in a commercial zone to be eligible for year round is not easy. 

[Bekah-And-Brian0]

Right. There is no nights-per-year cap for an A license. The A-STR license is merely renewed yearly, and can be 365. Anyone who fits the within the parameters for having an A-STR license should 100% not bother with a T-STR license, regardless of whether the T-STR licenses are renewable within a calendar year or not, simply because of hassle reasons and it all seems fairly unclear how FAST any of the registration numbers are going to be doled out. And the speed would absolutely matter in these circumstances.

The T-STR licenses, though, are the only mechanism in place for a host/property owner who doesn't have a home exemption. What isn't clear *at all* is whether the T licenses are renewable back-to-back to allow for multiple continuous, essentially endless T licenses over the course of a year. It would appear that is NOT the case. The whole point of the 90 day "limit" was to directly limit "whole home" year round rentals that weren't owner occupied.

Again, it's not clear. The city's STR brochure is terribly worded. But nowhere in the brochure, the ordinance or any news article or on airbnb does it say that the T-STR licenses are renewable/re-appliable WITHIN a year's time. Everything seems to point to it being a hard stop at 90 days within a year. 

For anyone who has questions about this I highly suggest calling the STR office phone number on the One Stop website. They answered me on the first ring an hour ago regarding a differnet issue altogether (whether bed & breakfasts still needed to apply for the A-STR license and no, shs did not know the answer BUT she took my name, email and phone number and said she'd pass it onto her supervisor and that she'd hopefully get back to me today or tomorrow.). 

Any airbnb host renting a property they don't live in should call and get this clarified immediately. 

[Casey26]

I would have a homestead exemption, just don't want to have to live in the place to be eligible to get an accessory license. I would just buy a place in a commercial zone and not have to worry about any of it, but it's hard to find a place that I like in those areas. 

[Josh9]

"The T-STR licenses, though, are the only mechanism in place for a host/property owner who doesn't have a home exemption. What isn't clear *at all* is whether the T licenses are renewable back-to-back to allow for multiple continuous, essentially endless T licenses over the course of a year. It would appear that is NOT the case. The whole point of the 90 day "limit" was to directly limit "whole home" year round rentals that weren't owner occupied."

This is not my interpretation from reading the code; there is nothing in there about a waiting period or delay between licenses. My interpretation is that the key factor is that you can only rent out for 90 days, and if you need 2 or 3 or 4 licenses in order to do that, you can get them. Reasoning: just because you have endless licenses, it doesn't mean you are renting it out to short-term tenants the whole time. Maybe you just want to have the option if it becomes necessary. You might buy a license for June-August then get a tenant for that entire period (not a short-term tenant, so their period of occupancy should not count toward your 90-day yearly limit). You therefore will not need your short-term license, and you just wasted $50. However, since you didn't know in advance you would be getting that 3-month tenant, you got the license just in case. When Sept. rolls around, you apply for another license for Sept-Nov, again not really knowing how it is going to turn out. Etc. etc.

[Bekah-And-Brian0]

Well, the whole point of having a code is that we don't get to interpret it at all. It's supposed to be clearly written! It totally isn't. 

We all know the city's intent was to limit "whole-home"/non-owner occupied fulltime STRs while simultaneously allowing for property owners to rent their own homes while they themsemves were away on vacation. This was the city's intent. What they've worded is unclear. 

I've read the ordinance. We're just not reading it the same way. I'm reading it as either applying for separate T licenses each time you want to host, (two weeks of Jazz Fest, Voodoo weekend, The month of February or whatever) or you apply for one T license and rent for only the 90 days from the date of issue. One wouldn't need a licence for renting for a three month single guest stay anyhow. They'd only need a T license to rent to rent to multiple guests over a 90 day period. 

[Julie--And-Brian-0]

I agree with you. I've read the ordinance (until my eyes have crossed) and the 2 possible interpretations you suggest are the conclusions I come to as well. I don't plan on renting the apartment out as a STR anymore.  We're just going to find long term tenants instead. That being said - anyone know of a good Property Manager in the city? 🙂  

[Hayley24]

I recently applied for my license and I'm pretty sure it will be rejected due to the zone my home is in.  Any listings in the French Quarter (where most guests want to be) will be denied a license and no short term rentals are allowed.  I'm not really sure where to go from here.  We use the our house as a vacation home and fill in some dates with guests if we are not staying.  We don't rent over 90 days, our neighbors don't mind, in fact they rent from us often when they have guests.  Just wondering if Airbnb will be removing all of the homes located in the French Quarter. I really feel bad for our future guests if I have to cancel all of their vacations and they have to pay the inflated hotel prices if they can even get a room due to availabilty in the Quarter.  The city had no problem taking our occupancy tax money which we are happy to pay to be in compliance with any New Orleans tax laws.  I'd love to hear from some other French Quarter home owners to hear their experience and if they have an suggestions.  

[Josh9]

Airbnb stated in their email about STR regulations in New Orleans, "If you do not apply for a license permit number by 05/31/2017, we will unlist your listing until you register."

There is a narrow strip of the French Quarter where STRs will be allowed, I can't immediately find a map of that, but I believe it is the block of Bourbon Street from Iberville (?) down to possibly St. Ann.