OC Plans Rental License Check On Airbnb Properties

OCEAN CITY – With the growing presence of online short-term rental operations like Airbnb and VRBO, resort officials will begin identifying the number of property owners who are using the sites to operate short-term rentals without a license.

On Monday, members of the Tourism Commission heard from Mayor Rick Meehan regarding plans to sample Ocean City vacation rental properties listed on online sites to determine what enforcement, if any, is needed and to identify the amount of room tax that goes uncollected.

“I think it will give us at least an idea of what we are up against,” Meehan said. “If they find only 30 percent of them have rental licenses, then we know we have to do them all. If 95 (percent) of them have a rental license, well then it’s probably not worth it.”

Property owners who use the online agencies can place their homes, apartments or individual rooms for short-term rent but the owners are responsible for acquiring the necessary license and paying any local and state tax, according to Meehan.  He said sites like Airbnb and VRBO have hundreds of listings for short-term vacation rentals in Ocean City, but it is unknown how many have the appropriate documentation.

“It will be pretty interesting to see how many of them have licenses,” he said.

Meehan explained that in the coming weeks the town’s licensing department will take a sampling of units listed for rent on Airbnb or similar sites to find out which ones have licenses and which ones don’t.

“You can figure out which building, but you can’t figure out what unit,” he said. “The only way you can get the unit number is if you correspond directly with the owner, or you go in and make a reservation and then cancel it.”

To abbreviate the process, he said a sampling will be used to get an estimate on what percentage has the required rental license and which of those are paying the associated room tax.

Councilman Matt James asked what steps would follow the sampling.

“Are you going to be sending out any kind of fine or letter to the units that don’t have rental licenses?” he said.

Meehan replied that the next course of action would be the decision of the Mayor and Council once the results are presented.

“I thought it was a good way to at least get that ball rolling and we’ll get an indicator as to where we stand,” he said.

Susan Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, applauded the actions.

“I think it’s a great idea,” she said.

In Monday’s meeting, commission members also heard from Donna Abbott, Ocean City’s tourism director, about grants the town received.

According to Abbott, Ocean City and its partners received a $75,000 matching grant that will help promote next year’s mid-week specials. The campaign, she said, will help to draw mid-week visitors to the resort.

“So we have a $150,000 campaign, which is good because the last time we did this we saw an increase in some of the numbers,” she said.

Ocean City also received a smaller matching grant for a marketing partnership between, Wicomico and Worcester counties and Ocean City for the 2018 National Folk Festival in Salisbury.

“We will have Ocean City mentioned in those ads so that there is a connection there,” she said.

About The Author: Bethany Hooper

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Bethany Hooper has been with The Dispatch since 2016. She currently covers various general stories. Hooper graduated from Stephen Decatur High School in 2012 and the University of Maryland in 2016, where she completed double majors in journalism and economics.