HELP! Village is making me stop renting!

[Barbara745]

I received a notice from my village in Florida stating that I must stop renting out my home as they have an ordinance that says rentals cannot be less than 90 days. I had researched prior to starting Airbnb and didn't see anything in their ordinances, so I don't know where this is coming from. My homeowners association also did not have anything prohibiting it. The village code enforcement has given me 7 days to comply. I have 20 outstanding reservations for my home rented through March of 2019!  I am at a loss of what to do. I feel that this is a violation of my rights as a homeowner to do what I want with my home. I am also against long term rentals as I don't rent longer than 2 weeks at a time so I can have my cleaning lady come in and keep my home clean and tidy. Renting for long periods of time, in my opinion, lets people get "comfortable" and they tend to wreck things and leave things get dirty. I don't want any part of long term rentals. I also have spoken to all my immediate neighbors and they were fine with me renting out with Airbnb and have absolutely no problems since I started last November. 

I believe the village needs to get with the program with the concept of Airbnb, HomeAway, etc. They are living in the dark ages. Plus, these rentals bring revenue to the village with tourists coming and frequenting restaurants, tourists attractions, etc. I depend on this income right now and if they make me stop, not only will I lose out, but my housekeeper will lose her job as well.  Plus, how are all these people going to find new accomodations and I certainly do not want to pay penalties for cancelling these reservations. I'm also a SuperHost. 

Has anyone had any success with fighting "city hall" as they say?  If anyone can give me some suggestions, help, advice, I'd appreciate it.  

[Sandra754]

No, Barbara, it’s not in my experience, although our city did pass an ordinance requiring that we get a permit—an ordinance passed after we started ABB. Since you can find short-term rentals easily in Florida, this seems to come out of the blue, and what I would do is call the office involved first thing in the morning with your questions about not having seen anything like this when you were setting up. It may be a rule recently enacted. Is this a restriction put in place by the HOA board, or is it a city thing? Are there any exemptions? Since the ordinance was not in place, can you DBS grandfathered in? Good luck.

[Barbara745]

No, I'm actually on my HOA board and we never discussed any kind of restrictions on short term rentals.  I'm ready to fight this tooth and nail!  That's what I would suggest to our village is if they want to control the rentals, then make anyone who wants to rent through ABB to get a permit with the requirement of a yearly inspection. Then the village would have some type of control on keeping the rentals in good condtion.