Fees May Be Limiting Rental Registrations
Few rental properties have been registered, some say because of the $476 registration fee. Photo by flickr.com/photos/ishane.
Austin’s newly enacted short-term rental ordinance is being put to the test. The law requires landlords to pay $476 in registration and notification fees before they can legally rent out their property. But the city says very few of Austin’s estimated 1,500 short-term rental properties have actually been registered. Emily Chenevert, with the Austin Board of Realtors, says the fees levied by the ordinance might be part of the problem.
“We believe that the fees that have been prescribed as part of the rules are very exorbitant,” Chenevert said, “both for the non-owner occupied but especially for the type one homeowners who just want to rent their house for ACL or Formula One.”
Officials from the city’s code compliance department say they won’t be sending out inspectors to look for violators.
