Short-term rental saga may be coming back to Austin

AUSTIN — The short-term rentals saga is back.

In a resolution approved Thursday, Nov. 29, Austin City Council is asking the city manager to audit the amount of time and resources the city's code and law enforcement spends on enforcing rules among short-term rentals (STR) owners. Owners of short-term rentals are required to get an operating license annually if they are renting their space out for less than 30 consecutive days.

You can read the full resolution, sponsored by Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, here.

Austin ordering audit of city resources spent regulating short-term rentals by kvuenews on Scribd

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 8, the Austin Code Department has received 1,380 complaints regarding STRs, the resolution said.

A few of those rental properties have faced more than 140 complaints, the resolution said. And when code officers respond to those complaints, the resolution states they "often must visit a single property multiple times to witness a violation, and often Code officers are unable to move forward with enforcement because the violations are not witnessed."

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The city manager must give the results of the audit to the city council by June 20, 2019.

Back in 2016, Austin City Council voted to phase out Type 2 short-term rentals in neighborhoods by April 1, 2022. These are STRs that are not occupied and are only rented out to people for a short amount of time.