Both houses of the state legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker found a sudden compromise at the end of December in their two-year session to push through the stalled short-term rental bill – which Gov. Baker signed into law on Friday, Dec. 28.
The bill has been a long time in the making and has been shepherded through the legislature for years by State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of the North End, who was happy to see the compromise reached.
Short-term rentals are a major issue in the downtown neighborhoods, and have made some impact in Charlestown as well – with people looking to find quaint lodgings near the T and historic sights on the Freedom Trail. While some of those rentals are in legitimate owner-occupied homes like that of Joe Bianco’s popular AirBNB on Green Street, others have been found to be corporate entities taking away vital housing stock from residents.
The final version of the state law left intact several key provisions that were championed in the neighborhoods – particularly the ability of the City to levy taxes and also the ability of the City to keep a detailed registration of all short-term rentals in Boston.
The Massachusetts Lodging Association was also happy with
the new state law, noting that it leveled the playing field for traditional
lodging establishments.
“We are pleased and gratified that the governor and legislative leaders came
together in a bipartisan way to advance this critical measure into law,” read a
statement from them on Dec. 28. “This is a tremendous victory for municipal
leaders and the people of Massachusetts who have been waiting for years while
Airbnb rentals have exploded, resulting in skyrocketing housing costs and
disruptions in local neighborhoods. By adopting a more level playing field
between short-term rentals and traditional lodgers, lawmakers made great
strides toward a more fair and sensible system.”
Short-term rental companies were not happy with the new law, just as they weren’t happy with the Boston ordinance last year that was voted into law and went into effect on Jan. 1.
“We’re proud of the community we’ve built in Massachusetts, with over 1.2 million travelers using Airbnb to visit the Commonwealth and nearly two million Bay Staters using Airbnb to travel at home and abroad in 2018 alone,” read a statement on the state law from AirBNB. “While we are deeply disappointed in the flawed bill that emerged from Beacon Hill during the lame duck session, we will continue the fight to protect our community and the economic engine of short-term rentals for hosts, guests, and local small businesses.”
AirBNB has sued the City of Boston to prevent some aspects of the City ordinance from going forward.
However, on Tuesday, Jan. 1, the City of Boston registry was up and running on its website – calling for short-term and long-term rental owners to register their units and determine if they meet the new criteria.
The new state law does not affect Boston’s ordinance, but does give it some teeth, particularly when it comes to local taxation.
Last summer, Gov. Baker had sent the state law back to the legislature, mostly out of concerns for the registry requirement that would put specific addresses of all units. That was something that the Boston ordinance had championed, and something that went into effect this week. However, the final version of the state law does allow for a statewide registry of all units with specific addresses.
The new law also levies a 5.7 percent state tax on all short-term rental units, and allows cities and towns to levy their own local taxes as well. In Boston, it is proposed to put an additional 6 percent on each short-term rental unit.
The trade-off with the registry for the governor seems to be a provision that allows for anyone renting out a unit for 14 days or less to avoid the taxation portion of the law. It was uncertain, but it initially did appear that those units would have to participate in the statewide registry.
The Boston ordinance – some of which is held up by the lawsuit – did go into effect on Jan. 1. It requires that all units be owner-occupied, and no one can book a stay 28 consecutive days or more and still be considered a short-term rental. The fee structure of the new Boston ordinance comes in three categories. A shared space with a homeowner is a $25 annual fee, while an owner’s unit or an owner-adjacent unit is $200.