Short-term rentals facing tougher enforcement

By Grace Lovins

Birmingham City Commissioners have outlined a new enforcement approach for short-term rentals during the Monday, May 4, meeting, one week after placing a moratorium on issuing new rental licenses for rentals of 30 days or less following a recent shooting incident at a rental property on E. Lincoln where a party took place.

The discussion mostly centered around how the city will enforce existing rental rules while the city’s planning board begins reviewing long-term regulatory options through zoning. At the commission’s previous meeting on Monday, April 27, the commission approved the moratorium, stopping issuance of new short-term rental licenses for six months, and directing city staff to look into stronger enforcement measures.

Mayor Clinton Baller and city attorney Mary Kucharek reiterated that historically the city code enforcement has approached enforcement with a “bring into compliance” mindset and the police department, while they may have been responding to calls, have not always communicated issues at rental properties to the building department.

Going forward, Baller said the police department will notify the building department and code enforcement of any issues or calls to a rental property for possible violations. He said the city will also shift from what he described as a more customer-service oriented approach to stronger accountability which would include possible revocation of the rental license.

Kucharek explained that the city cannot, without cause, retroactively revoke rental licenses that were legally issued but the city can pursue revocation when violations occur.

Kucharek and city attorney Tracy Gaudenzi also explained that there is a new application for rental licenses going forward where potential landlords must acknowledge there is a moratorium, rentals 30 days or less are currently prohibited, and that the city has the authority to revoke a license. Kucharek stressed that the city should make it clear to landlords that there are expectations that come with commercializing property in a residential area.

“I think the most important thing here is education, information and communication with landlords that we expect you to have responsibility and accountability to those people that you rent to,” Kucharek said. “If you want to continue to use your property in a commercial way, we have this expectation of you otherwise you're not going to get a license or permit from us.”

No formal action was taken by the commission, but the planning board is expected to take up discussions of rental property regulations during their regular meetings. City staff was also directed to start including enforcement reports in commission meeting packets going forward.

Commissioner Therese Longe, Baller and Kucharek also clarified toward the end of discussion that the commission does not intend to allow short-term rentals to return after the moratorium is up and current rental licenses expire on April 15, 2027.