08/05/2015
This is a re-envisioned rewrite of the current elitist and over paternal Santa Monica Home sharing law:
Whereas, the City consisits of just eight square miles of coastal land which is home to 90,000 residents, the job site of more than 300,000 workers, and a destination for as many as 500,000 visitors on the weekends and holidays; and
Whereas, technology has changed the way the world does business, internet companies have flocked to this area of the world now coined Silicon Beach, and a new concept of a shared economy, using unused and underused resources which includes staying in a home with a host or offering a home to visitors thereby allowing Santa Monica residents to creatively and competitively participate in the economy and when needed to keep their homes and properties during severe economic hardship or otherwise has been embraced by residents of Santa Monica; and
Whereas the City affords a diverse array of visitor-serving short term rentals, including motels, bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals and home sharing, as well as hotels, most of which are cost prohibitive to the families of local residents, visiting patients to our world renowned hospitals, visitors with families, and average travelers. It is agreed that unlicensed vacation rentals shall be given license to operate, shall be fairly taxed, and encouraged to offer good neighbor management with the loss of license if confirmed disturbances are lodged; and
Whereas, Santa Monica's primary housing goals include preserving its housing stock and preserving the quality and character of its existing single and multi-family residential neighborhoods. Santa Monica's prosperity has always been fueled by the area's many attractive features including its cohesive and active residential housing stock and active residential neighborhoods and the diverse population which resides therein. In order to continue to flourish, the city must preserve its housing stock, offer fair laws for all of its residents and preserve the character and charm which result in part from cultural, ethnic and economic diversity of its resident population and embrace new mores and technology; and
Whereas, the City must also preserve its unique sense of community which derives, in large part, from residents's active participation in civic affairs, including local government, cultural events and educational endeavors; and
Whereas, history has shown that the estimated 1700 home-sharing and vacation rental activities have spread the good will and image of Santa Monica worldwide and has played a valuable role in helping local retail and restaurant business thrive during one of the worse economic times witnessed; and recent outlawing of unhosted vacation rentals has portrayed Santa Monica as a model against sublet and vacation rentals, thereby against vacationers and travelers, to the detriment of the residents and business people of Santa Monica; and
Whereas, history has shown that home vacation rentals provide a needed and desired home for visitors and are relatively small in number and that the City's existing hotels and motels can not handle the overflow; and
Whereas, while the City recognizes that home-sharing activities whether hosted on site or off, can be conducted in harmony with surrounding areas, it would redundant to assume that those activities must be regulated to ensure that the number of home-shares stay in safe structures and do not threaten or harm the public health or welfare due to the fact that homes are more conducive to safety than commercial buildings with less strict density allowance than homes;
Whereas, any monetary compensation paid to the resident hosts for their hospitality and hosting efforts rightfully belong to such hosts and existing law authorizes the City to collect Transient Occupancy Taxes ("TOTs"); and
Whereas, existing law obligates both the hosts and rental agencies or hosting platform to collect and remit TOTs to the City.
Now, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Chapter 6.20 HOME SHARING AND VACATION RENTALS
6.20.010 Definitions
For purpose of this chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the following meaning:
a) CITY means the City of Santa Monica.
b) SMMC means the Santa Monica Municipal Code.
c) ACCESSORY STRUCTURE means living quarters, including lawfully permitted second units as defined by the Zoning Ordinance on the same premises as a single family residence. Rent Control Bootleg Units as defined in section
9.04.18.075 of the SMMC are not considered Accessory Structures for the
purpose of the Home Sharing Ordinance.
d) DWELLING UNIT means one or more rooms designed, occupied or intended for
occupancy as separate living quarters. A dwelling unit includes a single-family residence, an apartment or other leased premises, or residential condominium unit. A dwelling unit shall include a detached Accessory Structure (e.g. guest house) that is intended for human habitation (i.e. living quarters) when the
entire property is designated for a single family residential use. Dwelling unit does not include individual hotel/motel guest rooms, condominium timeshare units, cabins, or similar guest accommodations rented to transient guests in a hotel, inn, or similar transient lodging establishment operated by an innkeeper.
e) GUEST or VISITOR means a person who rents a home-share and/or vacation rental
f) HOME-SHARE means an activity whereby the resident(s) host visitors in their homes, for compensation, for periods of 30 consecutive days or less, while at least one of the dwelling unit’s primary residents lives on-site, in the dwelling unit, throughout the visitors’ stay.
g) HOST means a person engaged in providing a home-sharing and/or vacation rental.
h) HOSTING PLATFORM means a marketplace in whatever form or format which facilitates the Home-Sharing or Vacation Rental, through advertising, matchmaking or any other means, using any medium of facilitation, and from which the operator of the hosting platform derives revenues, including booking fees or
advertising revenues, from providing or maintaining the marketplace.
i) HOUSE SWAPPING means the exchange of a house by one owner with another owner in a different city for short periods of time by agreement between both parties to exchange homes for a specified period of time without compensation.
j) LIVES ON SITE means being present in the dwelling unit where the home-sharing is being offered, which includes but is not limited to sleeping overnight, preparing and eating meals, entertaining, and engaging in other activities in the dwelling unit that are typically enjoyed by a person in their home.
k) SHORT-TERM RENTAL means any rental of any living accommodation that is 30 consecutive days or less, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, homesharing
and vacation rentals.
l) RESIDENT means primary resident of a dwelling unit, when a person occupies a dwelling, typically a house or an apartment, that serves as their primary residence, though they may share the residence with other people. A person may only have one primary residence. A primary residence is considered to be a legal residence for the purpose of income tax and/or acquiring a mortgage.
m) TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX means local transient tax as set forth in Chapter
6.68 of the SMMC. The tax is paid by the guest when paying for their rental. The collected TOT is then remitted to the City.
n) VACATION RENTAL means a rental of any dwelling unit, in whole or in part, within the City of Santa Monica, to any person(s) for exclusive transient use of 30 consecutive days or less, whereby the unit is only approved for permanent residential occupancy and not approved for transient occupancy or HomeSharing as authorized by Chapter 6.20 of the SMMC.
II) HOME-SHARING HOSTS REQUIREMENTS AND BUSINESS LICENSE CONDITIONS
A host must comply with the following conditions:
a) A Home-Share may only be offered in a space intended for human habitation. For example, a host may not rent a space in an Accessory Structure that is a storage shed or garage as a Home-Share.
b) A host may not advertise their home-sharing business in any area that is exterior to the dwelling unit where the home-sharing is occurring. This includes common interior areas.
c) In any advertisement of the Home-Share a host must include the Business License number issued by the City.
d) A host must provide guests with information related to emergency exit routes if the unit is part of a multifamily building of more than one story.
3
e) Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) shall be collected on all Home-Sharing rentals. If a Hosting Platform does not collect payment for the rental, hosts are solely
responsible for the collection of all applicable TOT and remittance of the collected tax to the City on a monthly basis. If a Hosting Platform does collect payment for rentals, then it and the host shall both have legal responsibility for the collection and remittance of the TOT.
f) A Home-Sharing applicant must provide the following as part of his/her application:
1) Address where the Home-Sharing will take place.
2) Type of dwelling unit (e.g. single family home, apartment, condominium).
3) Whether the applicant is a tenant or owner of the dwelling unit.
4) The total number of full time occupants of the dwelling unit.
5) A list of all persons that will be hosting.
6) Contact information for each person that will be hosting (e.g. email, cell phone).
7) A list of each bedroom, office, den, living room, etc., in the dwelling unit.
The list shall include for each room:
i Whether or not the room will be rented
ii The maximum number of overnight guests that will be allowed
😎 Whether or not the unit is rent controlled.
9) An affidavit certifying that the host will comply with all of the provisions of
the Home-Sharing Ordinance, Business License Conditions for operating a Home-Share as outlined in these rules, and all relevant laws or be subject to revocation of their Business License.
III) HOME-SHARING HOSTS APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Any person who intends on operating a Home-Share from their primary residence shall complete the Home-Sharing Registration Package (HSRP). The HSRP shall include all instructions, check-lists, applications, and other educational materials
related to the Home-Sharing Ordinance and relevant local laws that the host is required to comply with. Home-Share applications are exempt from the Zoning
Conformance Review fee and Home Occupancy Permitting requirements. The applicant must submit all of the following to the Business License unit to register:
4
a) Business License Home-Sharing Application.
b) Proof of Residency. Acceptable forms of proof include: copy of a current utility
bill, cable bill, phone bill, credit card bill or bank statement showing your name
and current Santa Monica residential address. Leases, rental agreements, or IDs
may not be accepted as proof.
IV) HOSTING PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS
a) The operator of a hosting platform shall report quarterly to the City, in an
electronic comma-delimited format or similar format such as MS Excel, the
following information:
1) The address of each residential unit that was offered on the operator’s
hosting platform for occupancy for tourist or transient use and was
occupied for that use during that quarterly reporting period.
2) The total number of nights that the residential unit was occupied for tourist
or transient use.
3) The amounts paid for the occupancy of that residential unit listed.
4) The name(s) of the person(s) responsible for each unit listed.
b) If the Hosting Platform collects payment for the rental, the hosting platform and the host shall both have legal responsibility for the collection of all applicable TOT and remittance of the collected tax to the City on a monthly basis.
c) A Hosting Platform must provide its Santa Monica host clients or potential host clients the following disclosure:
“On May 12, 2015, the Santa Monica City Council adopted the Home-Sharing Ordinance reiterating its ban on the rental of entire units as vacation rentals. The Home-Sharing Ordinance also legalized the short term rental of a portion of a person’s home when the host lives on-site throughout the visitor’s stay
and when the host obtains a business license. Hosts are also required to collect and remit Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) if not collected and remitted by the hosting platform.”
