San Diego has started dropping bombs on Airbnb hosts.
\nIn recent months, the city\u2019s sent out more than 240 letters demanding that folks renting out their rooms or homes pay hotel taxes.
\nSince then, 175 of more than 3,100 local hosts have signed up to pay taxes, and at least a quarter of them have been told they\u2019ll owe more than just future bills. At least 40 hosts have started to pay back taxes \u2013 which can include late charges of up to 25 percent \u2013 for stays that occurred weeks, months or even years ago, according to the city treasurer\u2019s office.
\nThe demand letters, coupled with the case of a 70-year-old Burlingame woman who\u2019s been ordered to immediately stop renting out two rooms in her single-family home or face $2,500 in daily fines, have fueled an atmosphere of dread for local hosts who use the Airbnb website, which allows hosts to rent\u00a0their homes or individual rooms on a short-term basis.
\nSeveral hosts told\u00a0Voice of San Diego\u00a0they want to follow the rules but aren\u2019t certain what they are, or whether following them will open the door to being charged huge bills for back taxes. Some weren\u2019t willing to comment on the record out of fear the city will crack down on them.
\nCity officials say they\u2019re simply trying to ensure Airbnb hosts follow city rules.
\n“We just want to make sure that every resident is aware that there are still obligations they need to fulfill when renting out their property,” said Charles Chamberlayne, a spokesman for Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
\nThat means adding an 11 percent bed tax to the typical Airbnb bill, paying at least $50 annually in business taxes and, in some parts of the city, getting permits to operate. Cracking Down
\nThe city stepped up enforcement of those rules after an\u00a0April 2014 VOSD story\u00a0featuring North Park resident John Anderson, who confessed he wasn\u2019t sure whether he owed the city bed taxes. He\u2019s since begun paying up but said he\u2019s gotten a deluge of questions from fellow hosts.
\nLate last year, the city began tracking down dozens of Airbnb hosts through the site itself and from neighbors\u2019 complaints, among other methods. Some hosts have received letters from the city that address them only by their first names, the way they\u2019re identified on Airbnb.
\nThose piecemeal efforts could become more organized and aggressive later this year. The city\u2019s\u00a0five-year financial outlook\u00a0released in November noted that the treasurer\u2019s office proposed adding two full-time staffers “related to the enhanced enforcement of short-term rental properties” in the budget year that begins this summer.
\nThat\u2019s left Airbnb hosts like Paul Bedington, who historically hasn\u2019t paid taxes, to weigh their next steps.
\nBedington got a letter from the city treasurer in mid-January requesting that he begin tacking on the 11 percent charge.
\nBedington, a widower who began taking in guests last March, said Airbnb has provided additional cash and companionship since his wife passed away. He\u2019s made a couple close friends and enjoyed giving tours and recommendations to visitors.
\nHe said he pays income taxes, and didn\u2019t see the city\u2019s request coming. He understands the city\u2019s interest in getting Airbnb hosts to follow its rules but thinks it\u2019s taking the wrong approach.
\n“If the city is trying to close people down with one department and trying to take money from them in (another) department then chances are it\u2019s all going to go underground and the city will lose it,” Bedington said.
\nHe\u2019s also not certain it\u2019s his responsibility to charge the tax. Airbnb guests don\u2019t pay their hosts directly. The San Francisco-based company handles billing and doesn\u2019t offer an online option to pay hotel taxes in San Diego.
\nSo Bedington and other Airbnb hosts are grappling with how to cover the tax. Most say they\u2019ll have to raise their rates \u2013 potentially making them less competitive than hosts who aren\u2019t charging the tax \u2013 or eat the additional costs themselves.
\nThat\u2019s not the case in all cities where the platform operates.
\nAirbnb has\u00a0started collecting taxes\u00a0in San Francisco, Portland and Amsterdam, to name a few.
\nAn Airbnb spokesman and City Treasurer Gail Granewich confirmed last week that they\u2019re in talks to better ensure people play by the rules.
\n“San Diegans deserve clear, fair laws that make it easy for people to share their homes while contributing to the community,” Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty said in a statement. “As a first step, we are eager to work with policy makers on innovative, forward-focused solutions that enable platforms like Airbnb to voluntarily collect and remit hotel and tourist taxes on behalf of our hosts and guests in San Diego.”
\nBut such a partnership wouldn\u2019t clear up whether homeowners are allowed to rent out their homes or rooms in the first place, or whether hosts owe back taxes. Back Taxes
\nAlik Perakh, who rents out three units in Golden Hill, said he voluntarily registered to pay bed taxes last month after a friend received a letter about them. The city responded with an email notifying Perakh that he\u2019d been audited and found to have used Airbnb and other online rental services since at least fall 2011.
\nThat and other emails from the city imply\u00a0that he may owe three years\u2019 worth of taxes. Perakh hasn\u2019t received an actual bill for them, though.
\nPerakh panicked. He\u2019d searched the city code to see if he needed to pay bed taxes and decided he didn\u2019t qualify. Now he estimates that he owes the city tens of thousands of dollars, more than the profits he\u2019s made off those rentals.
\n“At this point I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do,” he said. “I don\u2019t have the money.”
\nGranewich said Perakh\u2019s case is rare, but\u00a0said the city will bill any hosts for past charges\u00a0if officials do an audit and find they rented out rooms or homes without paying taxes.
\n“Taxes are due on all short-term rentals,” Granewich said.
\nThough other cities are similarly cracking down on Airbnb, at least one is\u00a0going after the company itself for taxes, not individual hosts. Renting Among Residents
\nThen there\u2019s the issue of whether city zoning allows rentals in residential areas in the first place.
\nThe answer isn\u2019t simple. It varies by neighborhood.
\nThe city\u2019s decided the Burlingame woman, whose attorney requested she not be named to protect her privacy, needs a permit if she wants to continue to rent out rooms through Airbnb. She\u2019s set to fight the city\u2019s allegations \u2013 including the conclusion that she\u2019s operating a bed and breakfast \u2013 at a city hearing next month.
\nCity code enforcement chief Michael Richmond said the Burlingame woman lives in an area where zoning\u00a0only allows single-family residential housing. According to the city, you need a special permit to operate a bed and breakfast in that zone. Getting it would likely gobble up months and thousands of dollars. It would also give neighbors, including those who complained to code enforcement, a chance to weigh in.
\nThe city\u2019s not barring Airbnb, Richmond said, but it is encouraging those who want to use it to look at the city\u2019s zoning code \u2013 a tall order for inexperienced residents, he acknowledged.
\n“It really boils down to what\u2019s in the code. There are a lot of uses in the code,” Richmond said. “People should learn what the allowable uses are and learn how to fit within the use regulations in their particular zone that are on the books already.”
\nA growing chorus of Airbnb hosts and at least two City Council members think that\u2019s asking too much.
\nA group that\u2019s dubbed itself the Short Term Rental Alliance of San Diego\u00a0debuted a website this weekend promoting reform and greater clarity on the rules. They\u2019ve scheduled meetings with a handful of city officials in coming weeks to push their cause.
\nAnd City Council members Chris Cate and Lorie Zapf are working on separate efforts to change city mandates.
\nCate said last week he first learned of the issue after one of his constituents received a letter shortly after he took office in December. Since then, Cate\u2019s office has been working on a reform proposal.
\n“We\u2019re trying to look at a process that does not have to force those people to go underground and (where) they are playing by the rules,” Cate said.
\nZapf, who chairs the City Council\u2019s land use committee, also\u00a0announced\u00a0last week that she wants to address “quality of life issues related to vacation and short-term rentals” and discuss refining related at an April meeting. Her office didn\u2019t elaborate on specifics.
\nMany opponents want reform, too.
\nBrian Curry, who chairs the Pacific Beach planning group, said residents\u2019 increasing complaints about noise and other nuisance issues tied to vacation rentals led his group to create an\u00a0ad-hoc committee\u00a0to suggest new city regulations for hosts. The planning group is likely to vote on recommendations next month that may be forwarded to Zapf and other city officials.
\nScott Gruby of West Clairemont said one of his neighbors abruptly began renting out his home to tourists year-round last June. He thinks short-term rentals should be banned in residential areas altogether, and\u00a0created a website\u00a0advocating as much.
\n“(The city should) look at legal and political ways to curb this issue because I think it\u2019s the wild, wild west now,” he said. Lisa Halverstadt is a reporter at Voice of San Diego. Know of something she should check out? You can contact her directly at\u00a0lisa@vosd.org\u00a0or 619-325-0528.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
San Diego has started dropping bombs on Airbnb hosts. In recent months, the city\u2019s sent out more than 240 letters demanding that folks renting out their rooms or homes pay hotel taxes. Since then, 175 of more than 3,100 local hosts have signed up to pay taxes, and at least a quarter of them have […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"City cracking down on Airbnb hosts; Pacific Beach Planning Group to make recommendations","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duplicate","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}