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Portland officials have set another deadline in their slow crackdown on Airbnb and other companies that aren't following city rules.
As first reported by the Portland Tribune, the City Revenue Division sent letters on March 5 to five vacation rental companies that have been lax about making hosts get a city permit. The message: Have your hosts get permits by April 5 or pay up.
Collectively, the five companies face an estimated $503,000 in fines if they don't comply.
The city's last deadline for having short-term rental hosts display permits was Feb. 20. But the city let that date pass without issuing its promised penalties of $500 per day.
âRevenue is taking a graduated approach to short term rental enforcement, consistent with what we told City Council we would do when they passed the ordinance,â says Revenue Division director Thomas Lannom.
Up until this point, the city has welcomed Airbnb and other short term vacation rental companiesâmost recently updating city code to allow rentals in apartments and condos. Although the city requires all hosts that rent out space on a short-term basis get a permit and submit to a safety inspection, less than 5 percent have bothered.
If the warned companies are still unresponsive by the April 5 deadline, Lannom says Revenue will âupdate and finalizeâ the fines.
WWeek 2015