Short-Term Residential Rentals

This article compares how San Francisco, New York, and Portland, Oregon, are regulating short-term residential rentals, and recommends Portland’s approach as an ideal middle ground. It begins by describing home sharing and exploring the legal issues facing Airbnb around property rights, zoning restrictions, and taxation responsibilities. It then offers the experiences of San Francisco, New York, and Portland as case studies, and hails Portland’s permitting, enforcement, and taxation approaches as models for other local governments seeking to regulate short-term residential rentals.