DOWNTOWN — Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to keep track of Airbnb and other home-sharing units — and make money off them.
Emanuel will propose an ordinance Thursday that will "make it easier" for locals to infrequently rent out their homes for short periods of time, according to a news release from the Mayor's Office. Measures to keep track of and make money off rentals have been difficult for the city to enforce in the past.
The ordinance would require units that are rented out fewer than 90 nights per year to be registered for free online. The city would track these units and respond to complaints about them.
The ordinance would also bring in more than $1 million per year with a 2 percent surcharge, according to the Mayor's Office. That revenue will be used to promote affordable housing, particularly for homeless families with children.
The ordinance comes after aldermen called for a crackdown on unlicensed room rentals. Currently, those who rent rooms through services like AirBNB and Vacation Rentals By Owner are required to be licensed as a bed-and-breakfast or vacation rental, according to the city, and the city should be getting a 4.5 percent "hotel tax" off the rentals.
But Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said in October that few people — about 200 of more than 3,000 — actually are licensed. The city had "money literally sitting on the table" by not enforcing its rules on rentals, Reilly said, estimating that up to $2 million could come from cracking down on renters.
It's been a long-term problem for the city: In September 2012, only 76 homes were licensed as vacation rentals, but nearly 200 were being advertised on VRBO, according to Crain's.
"There is a lack of compliance," Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek, head of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said in October.
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