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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fourth Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
short-term rental enforcement; penalties
Purpose
Prohibits a city, town or county from regulating a short-term rental or vacation rental (short-term or vacation rental) that is not a person's primary or one additional residence. Prohibits a corporate entity from operating a short-term or vacation rental in a residential zone, caps the housing units certain multifamily housing property owners may rent as short-term or vacation rentals and establishes an occupancy limit. Modifies penalties for violations of state laws and local ordinances relating to short-term or vacation rentals.
Background
Statute prohibits a city, town or county (local government) from restricting the use of or regulating short‑term or vacation rentals based on their classification, use or occupancy, except: 1) to protect the public's health and safety; 2) to adopt and enforce residential use and zoning ordinances, including ordinances related to noise, protection of welfare, property maintenance and other nuisance issues; and 3) to limit or prohibit the use of a short-term or vacation rental for specified purposes. Local government residential use and zoning ordinances must be applied to short-term or vacation rentals in the same manner as to other class 3 and class 4 property (A.R.S. §§ 9-500.39 and 11‑269.17).
An online lodging operator may not rent or offer for rent a lodging accommodation without a current transaction privilege tax (TPT) license. The operator must list the TPT license number on each lodging accommodation advertisement. For the purposes of TPT license and posting requirements, online lodging operator includes an owner of a short-term or vacation rental that is not offered through an online lodging marketplace (A.R.S. § 42-4052).
An online lodging marketplace is a person that provides a digital platform through which an unaffiliated third party receives compensation for renting accommodations to an occupant. An online lodging operator is a person who rents lodging to an occupant through an online lodging marketplace (A.R.S. § 42-5076).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
Regulation
1. Prohibits a local government from restricting the use of or regulating a short-term or vacation rental that is a person's primary or one additional residence, rather than any short-term or vacation rental based on its classification, use or occupancy except as statutorily outlined.
2. Removes the requirement that local government residential use and zoning ordinances apply to short-term or vacation rentals in the same manner as to other class 3 and class 4 properties.
3. Specifies that permissible local government residential use and zoning ordinances include ordinances related to occupancy.
4. Prohibits a corporate entity from operating a short-term or vacation rental in a residential zone unless otherwise authorized by the local government.
5. Caps, at 25 percent, the housing units an owner of a multifamily housing property subject to the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act may rent as short-term or vacation rentals, unless otherwise authorized by the local government.
6. Caps the occupancy of a short-term or vacation rental at any one time to the lesser of:
a) a local government‑established limit; or
b) two persons per bedroom, up to four bedrooms, plus two additional adults per 1,000 square feet of livable space in excess of 3,000 square feet of livable space.
7. Prohibits a short-term or vacation rental from advertising:
a) to exceed the occupancy limit of the dwelling occupancy; or
b) for any nonresidential use.
8. Authorizes a local government to impose a civil penalty for each day a short-term or vacation rental property advertises for a nonresidential use or to exceed the occupancy limit, and removes a violation of the prohibition from verified violations subject to statutory penalties.
Enforcement
9. Removes the requirement that an online lodging operator or short-term or vacation rental owner that fails to comply with TPT license and posting requirements pay a civil penalty of $250 for the first offense and $1,000 for the second and any subsequent offenses.
10. Prohibits an online lodging marketplace from advertising or supporting the advertisement of a short-term or vacation rental that fails to comply with TPT license and posting requirements and subjects an online lodging marketplace to a civil penalty of $250 for each offense.
11. Deems, as guilty of a petty offense, an online lodging operator that falsifies information to an online lodging marketplace in violation of TPT licensing and posting requirements.
12. Requires the Arizona Department of Revenue to suspend an online lodging operator's or short-term or vacation rental owner's transaction privilege tax license for six months if the owner, for a third and any subsequent time in the same 12-month period, is found guilty or civilly responsible for violating a state law or local ordinance relating to short-term or vacation rentals.
13. Allows a TPT license to be reinstated only after the owner proves an ability to eliminate future verified violations.
14. Removes the requirement that an online lodging operator or short-term or vacation rental owner who, for a third and any subsequent time, is found guilty or civilly responsible for violating a state law or local ordinance relating to short-term or vacation rentals in the same 12-month period pay a civil penalty of:
a) $1,500 or 50 percent of the gross monthly revenues of the lodging accommodation at which the violation occurred for the month in which the violation occurred, whichever is greater; or
b) the difference between $1,500 or 50 percent of the gross monthly revenues and the amount of the civil penalty the local government imposed for the verified violation.
Miscellaneous
15. Specifies that a short-term or vacation rental is not subject to statutes relating to local government residential rental inspection programs.
16. Excludes, from the definition of short-term rental or vacation rental, a building or structure or part of a building or structure used for a home or residence by one or more persons who maintain a household and a mobile home regardless of ownership of the land.
17. Defines corporate entity as a limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, general partnership, trust or any other entity that is not a natural person.
18. Defines person as a natural person and excludes, from person, a corporate entity.
19. Makes technical and conforming changes.
20. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Prohibits local regulation of a short-term or vacation rental that is one additional residence to a primary residence, rather than a short-term or vacation rental that is a secondary residence, and removes the outlined exceptions for regulation based on classification, use or occupancy.
2. Removes the limitation on certain short-term or vacation rentals of one rental in a 30-day period.
3. Caps the housing units certain multifamily housing property owners may rent as short-term or vacation rentals, unless otherwise authorized by the local government, and establishes an occupancy limit on short-term or vacation rentals.
4. Authorizes a local government to impose penalties on a short-term or vacation rental property that advertises for a nonresidential use or to exceed the occupancy limit.
5. Modifies the definitions of person and corporate entity.
6. Makes a technical change.
Senate Action
COM 2/20/20 DPA 5-3-0
Prepared by Senate Research
February 21, 2020
LB/gs