I had a code enforcment officer pose as a guest

[Shaun124]

I had a City code enforcement officer pose as a guest and when I responded he came down on me and wants me to shut down my Airbnb business. This is  because the city doesn’t allow short-term rentals on the beaches. Maybe we are hurting the mega hotels business, who knows.  The minimum rental periods are 30 days. This despite being there being over 300 short term rental properties in the city. He claims he is out to shut every single one down.

Obviously this is very worrying for me and my business and for everybody in the city.

I have reached out to other owners who have not been contacted yet and really sounds like they couldn’t careless.

I know Florida HP 937 did not pass this recent session and want to know if anybody has knows firsthand an update and what the progress is or any tips and ideas how to get around the situation

[Anonymous]

@Shaun124   It's never advisable to have an active listing that violates local laws. But if there's an ambiguity in the regulation and it's uncertain how it applies to you, best to temporarily snooze your listing and  lawyer up. 

[Kelly149]

@Shaun124  You either have a legal listing or you don’t.

if you’re legal then why is the city harassing you? If you aren’t legal then that’s likely not going to turn out well. 

[Shaun124]

According to the state of Florida, local cities can not restrict residential zone properties to any length of stay. BUT THEY ARE at the local level. We are zoned correctly, have a state license. Just don't want to start hiring lawyers etc and waste money for nothing.

[Helen3]

Sorry not clear from your post @Shaun124  Are you now saying you are fully compliant with your local government policies for having STRs in your area? If so why did you have a visit from local enforcement.

Why do you feel local government can't restrict length of stay for STRs. Surely that's what they do in many other areas in the US and elsewhere.

[Shaun124]

I am fully compliant with the State of Florida and yet being hassled by local code enforcement.

The State ruling takes precedent over the local government. Apparently, the city is trying to get the State to relinquish its ruling and hand it back to the local governments. This particular official apparently feel he is the lone crusader trying shut down all STR.

[Sarah977]

@Shaun124  I'm not surprised- there's always some stiff, nasty bureaucrat who's made it his mission to throw his weight around and be a big fish in a small pond. An ex-boyfriend once had months of hassle from an unemployment insurance agent who was accusing him of collecting unemployment when he was actually working. The boss where he was employed (it was a seasonal business and quite legit for my boyfriend to claim for benefits during the off-months) was forced to go through file cabinets worth of documents. In the end, it turned out they were being hassled based on some disgruntled ex-employee's "anonymous" reports and the case was dropped. But the agent was really aggressive and actually "disappeared" documents he had been provided with in an effort to be heavy-handed.

If you are complying with the laws, and keeping up with the latest rulings, I'd just ignore the guy. While he can hassle you, I don't see how he could shut down your listing if you aren't in contravention of any laws.

Interesting that you contacted other hosts in the area who weren't concerned simply because they haven't yet been personally hassled. Wonder how they'll feel about it when they are and too bad they couldn't find it in themselves to be supportive. Have you contacted anyone on the State level, as you say the locals are doing this illegally, in contravention of state law? That might be worthwhile.

[Sierra11]

From what I've witnessed, the local municipalities each have their own short term rental regulations. These are what are enforced. 

It's luck of the draw who gets fined and whose rental goes seemingly unnoticed. If you have success with the State, please let me know. 

Sierra Kluson

Keller Williams Realty St Pete