"It’s gotten so bad here that people are yelling at them on the street."
Pinellas County officials are hoping to finally clamp down on vacation rentals where unattended trash and loud parties have drawn scorn from neighbors.
But one attorney is already threatening to sue the county over the crackdown. Keith Brady, a vacation rental attorney, said that owners and managers of more than 50 rentals have approached him, concerned they’ll lose so much income that they’ll no longer break even.
Pinellas is requiring vacation rental owners living in its unincorporated areas to register for a certificate of use and safety inspection, which costs $600 the first year.
It’s not the registration component that Brady and the rental owners object to, but a 10-person occupancy limit, on the books since 2018, that could now see stricter enforcement. Brady said owners of seven-bedroom homes were counting on renting out to 16 at a time to pay for monthly mortgage payments.
The possible lawsuit against Pinellas highlights the blowback communities across the state face when it comes to holding owners accountable for renting out homes on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. Rental owners routinely respond to local enforcement with legal threats.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times