Residential Amenities Sharing Act

Model Bill Info
Bill Title	Residential Amenities Sharing Act
Date Introduced	July 29, 2022
Type	Model Policy
Status	Final
Task Forces	Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development; Communications and Technology

Residential Amenities Sharing Act

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF __________:

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS

(1) “Effectively prohibit” means a local governing body acts or fails to act in a manner that prevents a property owner from using the owner’s property as a residential amenities sharing unit after reasonable compliance with generally applicable local laws;

(2) “Generally applicable local law” means an ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or other requirement of a type other than zoning enacted, maintained, or enforced by a local governing body that applies to all property or use of all property and does not apply only to property used as a residential amenities sharing unit;

(3) “Local governing body” means the legislative body of a city, municipality, county, or other political subdivision of this state that has authority to enact a zoning ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or other requirement of a type regarding land use in its jurisdiction;

(4) “Prohibit” means to forbid or ban the operation of a residential amenities sharing unit, either permanently or temporarily, within a local governing body’s jurisdiction, portion of the local governing body’s jurisdiction, or a portion of an owner’s property;

(5) “Property” means a tract of land recorded with the state or municipality where the property is located;

(6) “Residential amenities sharing platform” or “platform” means a company that coordinates residential amenities sharing providers to rent their units to consumers;

(7) “Residential amenities sharing provider” or “provider” means a person engaged in renting a residential amenities sharing unit;

(8) “Residential amenities sharing unit” or “unit” means a property or residential dwelling that:

(a) Is partially rented for a fee for a period of less than fifteen (15) continuous hours; and

(b) Is rented for the same purpose and function as used or intended by the property owner.

SECTION 2. LOCAL REGULATION OF RESIDENTIAL AMENITIES SHARING UNITS.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a local governing body shall not prohibit or effectively prohibit the use of property as a residential amenities sharing unit.

(b)(1) A local governing body may, by resolution or ordinance, regulate residential amenities sharing providers by:

(A) Requiring a provider to register a unit with the local governing body. The local governing body shall not refuse registration unless the provider fails to comply with a regulation permitted by this subdivision (b)(1). A local governing body may require a provider to provide the following registration information:

(i) The name, street address, mailing address, email address, and telephone number of the residential amenities sharing unit provider;

(ii) The street address of the residential amenities sharing unit;

(iii) Proof of liability insurance for the unit, with a platform’s insurance coverage being sufficient.

(B) Requiring a provider to pay a nominal annual fee for the registration of each unit;

(C) Requiring that a platform maintain no more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) in liability insurance per rental of each unit;

(D) Prohibiting:

(i) The preparation or service of food by a provider in the unit; and

(ii) A provider from offering sleeping accommodations to transients during or as part of residential amenity use;

(E) Enforcing generally applicable local laws related to parking, noise, and other nuisance activity;

(F) Imposing reasonable limitations on the maximum occupancy of a unit based on the property size;

(G) Imposing reasonable limitations on the hours of the day and days of the week during which a unit may be rented; or

(H) Requiring a provider to provide proof of written notification to an owner of a property that shares a physical boundary with the residential amenities sharing unit.

(2) This chapter does not prevent a local governing body from prohibiting the continued use of property as a residential amenities sharing unit if, as a direct result of the operation of the residential amenities sharing unit, the unit has been in violation of a generally applicable local law. The burden of proof that a violation of a generally applicable local law was a direct result of the operation of the residential amenities sharing unit is on the local governing body. If a provider has exhausted all appeal rights for a violation of a generally applicable local law, then the local governing body may impose a three strikes penalty system with increasing, reasonable, fines and the third violation resulting in a permanent prohibition on the use of the property as a residential amenities sharing unit while it remains with the same owner.

(3) A local governing body may provide a mechanism for consumers to file online complaints regarding a provider or unit.

SECTION 3. ​​COMPLIANCE

The question whether a regulation complies with this section shall be a judicial question, and the municipality that enacted the regulation shall establish by clear and convincing evidence that the regulation complies with this section.