Just days after a D.C. councilman introduced a bill regulating home-sharing sites like Airbnb and Vacation Rentals By Owner, some hosts are speaking out to WUSA9 about their concerns. The bill, introduced on Tuesday, was proposed in an effort to protect affordable housing, according to the bill sponsor, Councilman Kenyan McDuffie.
The bill is meant to "target" people who are buying units or entire buildings, solely to put them on websites like Airbnb. City leaders argue that this takes away housing from locals, and chips away at affordable housing.
"People don't want to see their neighborhoods turned into these pop-up hotels," said Valerie Ervin, an advocate for the bill who represents the Working Families Party.
The new bill would make three main changes:
- Limits hosts to renting out one unit at a time
- Mandates hosts can only rent their permanent home
- Sets the maximum amount of days you could host to 15 days in a year
The 15-day cap has been the most troubling section of the bill for many Airbnb users.
Matthew Erdman, who lives in Adams Morgan, said he quit his job to spend more time at home with his 16-month-old daughter. He said he makes up the money by renting his home on Airbnb for approximately 60 days of the year, which would be illegal under the new regulations.
"That would be $7,500 that we'd be losing out on," he said. "Because we'd be cut down to 15 maximum days rentals. And so we're not the target but it would have a big impact."
Similar bills have been passed in various other cities including New York City, New Orleans and Santa Monica, California. Similar regulations were passed in Arlington County in December, although the hosting cap was far more flexible. Whereas D.C. is proposing a cap of 15 days, Arlington County passed a cap of 180 days.
Kanita Williams, from Congress Heights in Southeast, said the cap of 15 days seemed arbitrary. She rents a room in her permanent home on Airbnb on a year-round basis.
"I'd be forced to go to alternatives," she said. "Probably back to Craigslist, which I consider not to be very secure and it requires more extensive vetting process."
Under the new bill, users could face a hefty fine if they fail to comply. After a 120-day period to adapt, first-time offenders would face a fine of up to $1,000. These hosts would face up to $7,000 for any subsequent violations. That money would go to affordable housing in the district.
A spokesperson for Councilman McDuffie said that a public hearing will be held in the coming weeks or months, and that they are open to reasonable changes to the bill if that's what the public calls for.
