my registration has been denied by City of Chicago Registration yesterday

Rebecca315
Level 1
Chicago, IL

my registration has been denied by City of Chicago Registration yesterday

my registration has been denied by City of Chicago Registration yesterday(9/26), what can I do with the existing bookings(~11/30)? Can I keep run them ? I received another email today about if I don't appeal, my listing will be removed by Airbnb. 

74 Replies 74
Jake152
Level 2
Chicago, IL

I actually have a hearing scheduled very shortly.  I'll try to respond after I have it.  Basically, the former president of the board put us on the Do not Airbnb list without speaking to the board and our association bylaws do no ban it.  He then resigned as president.  I've been waiting on a hearing a for a while.  I've been told the city wont' determine if our bylaws allow it or not but rather determine if he did not have the right to put us on the list.  

Edward87
Level 2
Chicago, IL

I was scouring this thread a couple months back when we were denied, and there wasn't much followup from people who got approved.

 

The good news is that we did get approved, so it is possible (but not easy) to navigate the Chicago BACP. Here's our story:

 

We own a 3 unit building. We live in unit 2, and we Airbnb unit 3. Before we spent thousands on remodeling and furniture for the Airbnb, we spoke to our Alderman Brian Hopkins (Ward 2). His office said that because we were owner occupants of the building, we would not need any approval. And if we did need approval, Brian would help. Both of these statements were misinformed.

 

After a few successful weeks on Airbnb, we received the same city denial that many of you have. We were Airbnb'ing a unit in a building that was not owner occupied. Alderman Hopkins office and I both misinterpreted this part of the code. The city says you must occupy the same UNIT that you are Airbnb'ing. The code reads like you can get away with occupying a unit in the building. Nope.

 

A simple solution to avoid all the crap I'm about to write? You could just change your address to the Airbnb unit and be done with it!

 

However, if you've been denied already, there are two courses of action, both of which are free.

 

The first is an appeal. Filing the appeal means that the 10 day window to delist the Airbnb is extended to however long it takes the city to get you a court date. The city is flooded with requests like this, so you'll be months away from court. Feel free to keep operating your Airbnb during this time. The appeal needs to appeal the verdict based on something wrong in the original application. In our appeal, we suggested that we would move to unit 3, make it our primary residence, and then list it on Airbnb as originally planned.

 

The second route is a Commissioners' Adjustment. This must be filed within 10 days and is a permanent change (kind of like a zoning change) to allow a short term rental. The application makes it appear like you need to prove some undue hardship or burden by being denied. Other posts on this forum suggest that you simply need alderman support. Getting alderman support is a whole paragraph of its own below.

 

As soon as we were denied, we called Alderman Brian Hopkins' office. I got through to a friendly girl who was newly in charge of short term rentals. She again told me it would be fine and that Brian would approve of it if not. Then she personally spoke to BACP and realized the error in her understanding. Not once did she call me. I had to chase this multiple times each day to get any progress.

 

She did offer to write up a support letter and get it to Alderman Hopkins. After 5 days of delays, we were on the very last day of submitting an appeal and I was calling hourly. She finally "got the letter" to Brian and he said "no." His staffer suggested he is "cagy" about Airbnbs. Did she get the letter to Brian? Is he actually receiving money from local hotels under the table to oppose Airbnbs? Rumors swirl, Chicago politics suck, and the only concrete evidence I have is that Alderman Hopkins was part of the team who introduced Airbnb restrictions via City Hall. Definitely not an advocate.

 

We pressed on and submitted our Commissioners Adjustment anyway without Alderman approval. We included 2 support letters from neighbors, zoning, and neighborhood evidence. We didn't expect anything of it, but after a month, I got called to City Hall to sign the paperwork. Once you receive a commissioners adjustment, there's a 10 page "good neighbor" kind of form to sign about how you will keep it quiet, use electronic locks, and install security cameras.

 

I should also mention that there are lawyers to help you with this nonsense.  One such lawyer is Shorge Sato.  A google search can get you to his profile, and his rates are reasonable. I chose to represent myself, and it worked fine.

 

In summary, Chicago does not make this easy, and having an Alderman like Brian Hopkins makes it even worse. You can persevere though, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me via email. I could even share our full application with you, but I will not share it publicly for privacy reasons.

 @Edward87  thank you for providing such great info for everyone. I am about to begin navigating these issues as we have one SFH as a primary and a prior already registered SFH that will be a vacation rental only type setup. 

Do you have any tips or docs you could send me for successfully navigating the Commissioner’s adjustment application? Any help would be super appreciated as when first dealing with these issues we are all flying a little blind to start.. my email is logansquare312@gmail.com

Thanks!

@Edward87  Thanks so much for you helpful information.  I am wondering if there is a way for me to call you and ask you a few questions?   I am wondering if when you applied through Airbnb you said "no" to primary residence because Unit 3 was not "technically" your primary residence and this is the reason for the denial?    I know that if you answer no you will be automatically denied.  If this is the case, then I can see why you were denied automatically and then later approved by the commissioners adjustment since the law allows 1 unit in a 3 flat to be Airbnb if the building is owner occupied.   Could your reply here or let me know an alternative way to contact you?

I really put everything I know into that post.  The specific unit you are AirBnBing must be your primary residence unless you chase a commissioner's adjustment (as I did).  If you say the unit is not your primary residence, you will be denied. Regardless of whether the building is owner occupied or not, you need to occupy the very unit that you are listing.

"the law allows 1 unit in a 3 flat to be Airbnb if the building is owner occupied"

 

You are reading this wrong, as I did, and as Brian Hopkins office did. THE UNIT MUST BE OWNER OCCUPIED not the building.

Edward87
Level 2
Chicago, IL

I was scouring this thread a couple months back when we were denied, and there wasn't much followup from people who got approved.

 

The good news is that we did get approved, so it is possible (but not easy) to navigate the Chicago BACP. Here's our story:

 

We own a 3 unit building. We live in unit 2, and we Airbnb unit 3. Before we spent thousands on remodeling and furniture for the Airbnb, we spoke to our Alderman Brian Hopkins (Ward 2). His office said that because we were owner occupants of the building, we would not need any approval. And if we did need approval, Brian would help. Both of these statements were misinformed lies.

 

After a few successful weeks on Airbnb, we received the same city denial that many of you have. We were Airbnb'ing a unit in a building that was not owner occupied. Alderman Hopkins office and I both misinterpreted this part of the code. The city says you must occupy the same UNIT that you are Airbnb'ing. The code reads like you can get away with occupying a unit in the building. Nope.

 

A simple solution to avoid all the crap I'm about to write? You could just change your address to the Airbnb unit and be done with it!

 

However, if you've been denied already, there are two courses of action, both of which are free.

 

The first is an appeal. Filing the appeal means that the 10 day window to delist the Airbnb is extended to however long it takes the city to get you a court date. The city is flooded with requests like this, so you'll be months away from court. Feel free to keep operating your Airbnb during this time. The appeal needs to appeal the verdict based on something wrong in the original application. In our appeal, we suggested that we would move to unit 3, make it our primary residence, and then list it on Airbnb as originally planned.

 

The second route is a Commissioners' Adjustment. This must be filed within 10 days and is a permanent change (kind of like a zoning change) to allow a short term rental. The application makes it appear like you need to prove some undue hardship or burden by being denied. Other posts on this forum suggest that you simply need alderman support. Getting alderman support is a whole paragraph of its own below.

 

As soon as we were denied, we called Alderman Brian Hopkins' office. I got through to a friendly girl who was newly in charge of short term rentals. She again told me it would be fine and that Brian would approve of it if not. Then she personally spoke to BACP and realized the error in her understanding. Not once did she call me. I had to chase this multiple times each day to get any progress.

 

She did offer to write up a support letter and get it to Alderman Hopkins. After 5 days of delays, we were on the very last day of submitting an appeal and I was calling hourly. She finally "got the letter" to Brian and he said "no." His staffer suggested he is "cagy" about Airbnbs. Did she get the letter to Brian? Is he actually receiving money from local hotels under the table to oppose Airbnbs? Rumors swirl, Chicago politics suck, and the only concrete evidence I have is that Alderman Hopkins was part of the team who introduced Airbnb restrictions via City Hall. Definitely not an advocate.

 

We pressed on and submitted our Commissioners Adjustment anyway without Alderman approval. We included 2 support letters from neighbors, zoning, and neighborhood evidence. We didn't expect anything of it, but after a month, I got called to City Hall to sign the paperwork. Once you receive a commissioners adjustment, there's a 10 page "good neighbor" kind of form to sign about how you will keep it quiet, use electronic locks, and install security cameras. With that, we got our registration number and are good to go!

 

I should also mention that there are lawyers to help you navigate this. One such lawyer is Shorge Sato, and his site is https://keepchicagolivable.com/about/. Rates seemed reasonable. I represented myself and did fine, so to each their own!

 

In summary, Chicago does not make this easy, and having an Alderman like Brian Hopkins makes it even worse. You can persevere though, and if you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me via email. I could even share our full application with you, but I will not share it publicly for privacy reasons.

Hi Edward, thanks for sharing all this info. Very helpful. I'm approaching my own hearing at the end of the month and am trying to build the best possible case that I can. Similar to your case, I've got two letters of neighbor support, but I'm curious what all details you added regard "zoning, and neighborhood evidence?" I'm really puzzled as to what information they might be looking for there.

 

Thanks much.

 

 

Sean364
Level 2
Chicago, IL

following this thread - I have a 3-flat that I live in. We are in the adjustment process to have two AirBnB units in the building instead of one.

Any follow-up on this @Sean364 ?

I live in a 3 flat and my neighbor in the garden unit rents out a few weeks a year (hardly ever) and we are in a situation where we need to rent out our unit a few weeks a year too, so we are wondering if you were successful in getting the adjustment? It is our primary residence.

How did this go? Thanks!

What if I ignore th Chicago Registration part? Will AirBNb still post listing? 

@Stephen1182 it will not. You can not get past that field when you create a listing. They apply on your behalf

Thank you for responding back quickly!