Condo Media - September 2017 - 47

SHORT-TERM RENTALS ON THE
RISE, PORTLAND RESPONDS
Short-term rentals, including Airbnb
rentals, have been on the rise in Portland
in recent years. According to Airbnb, in
2016, approximately 51,000 people used
the service to book stays with over 500
hosts in Portland. Statewide in Maine,
Airbnb hosts earned over $26 million
dollars in rental income with approximately 174,000 guests using the service
in 2016, representing a 100 percent yearover-year increase in guest arrivals.
Unfortunately, the increase in shortterm rentals has raised concerns about
the adverse impact on access to housing
in local rental markets, and also for
the general compatibility of having so
many transient guests within residential
buildings and communities. For condominium associations, short-term rentals
can be especially problematic because
resident owners of units typically object
to strangers having access to private
condominium property and common facilities, and associations have legitimate
concerns regarding liability, insurance,
and oversight of transient guests who
may disregard the rules and regulations
of the condominium.
In response to a wide array of concerns for the growing short-term rental
market, the City of Portland adopted
restrictions to short-term rentals by an
amendment to Chapter 6, Article VI,
Sections 6-150 to 6-157, Rental Unit
Registration Requirements, of the Portland City Code.
PROHIBITION OF
SHORT-TERM RENTALS FOR
NON-OWNER-OCCUPIED
CONDOMINIUM UNITS
The new ordinance completely prohibits
short-term rentals for single-family homes
that are not owner occupied. The ordinance defines an "Owner-Occupied" unit
as being the principal residence of an owner, and defines a "Single-Family Home"
to include individual condominium units.
Importantly, the ordinance defines "shortterm rental" as the rental of a unit in whole
or in part for less than 30 days.

Many condominium associations in
Portland already prohibit short-term
rentals specifically, or generally prohibit
rentals that are shorter than 30 days.
For these associations, the prohibition
for non-owner occupied units should
not create any new major regulatory
burden. However, for other associations
that have no rental regulations or leasing
restrictions, or have rental restrictions
that currently allow rentals for terms
shorter than 30 days (e.g., allowing oneor two-week rentals), the ordinance
presents a new enforcement issue for the
association to manage and may create
a conflict with existing regulations that
requires correction by an amendment to
the governing documents.
For those associations that have
no leasing or rental regulations at all,
an enforcement issue is still created
because any short-term rental of a nonowner-occupied unit in Portland is now
illegal, and many condominium documents have general terms requiring
owners to comply with applicable laws,
thereby creating an indirect violation of
the condominium documents.
At a minimum, associations in Portland will want to make sure that they
have adequate regulations in place to respond to these possible rental violations
when they occur, including a process for
notification of violations, a schedule of
fines, a procedure for owners in violation to be heard by the association as
required by Section 1603-102(11) of the
Maine Condominium Act, and a process
for collection or enforcement of fines or
liens that are not satisfied.
Additionally, for those associations
that have no existing rental or leasing regulations, the new ordinance
provides good cause to adopt new rules
or amendments to address the issue,
which may address not only short-term
rentals but also other long-term leasing
and rental requirements.

allowed, but they are subject to new
restrictions and requirements. Generally, owner occupied units must be
registered by Jan. 1 of each year for
short-term rental use, and payment of
a registration fee is required.
In addition to the registration requirements, the ordinance establishes
some notable restrictions on shortterm rentals. First, short-term rentals
are limited for use by two guests per
bedroom, plus a limit of two additional
guests. While short-term rentals by
tenants of a condominium unit or
single-family home are allowed, such
short-term rentals by tenants are also
subject to registration requirements
and can only be done with permission
of the owner.
The ordinance does not, however,
prevent condominium associations
from prohibiting short-term rentals in
owner-occupied units that are otherwise permissible under the ordinance.
As a result, associations that already
prohibit short-term rentals should not
need to make any significant regulatory
adjustments, but those associations
may consider whether their general
leasing regulations should be amended
to require written lease provisions (for
longer-term tenants) that expressly
prohibit tenants from engaging in
short-term rentals. If an association
already allows or decides to allow shortterm rentals for owner-occupied units,
the association should consider whether its regulations should be amended to
incorporate the restrictions under the
ordinance concerning the number of
guests, rentals by tenants, and whether
to require evidence of compliance with
the new ordinance each year with proof
of registration and evidence of insurance as required by the association.

n DOUGLAS F. BRITTON, ESQ.,
IS AN ATTORNEY WITH THE LAW

NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR OWNEROCCUPIED CONDOMINIUM UNITS
For owner-occupied condominium
units, short-term rentals are still

FIRM VERRILL DANA, LLP IN
PORTLAND, ME.

September 2017

47



Condo Media - September 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - September 2017

Table of Contents
Condo Media - September 2017 - Intro
Condo Media - September 2017 - BB1
Condo Media - September 2017 - BB2
Condo Media - September 2017 - Cover1
Condo Media - September 2017 - Cover2
Condo Media - September 2017 - Table of Contents
Condo Media - September 2017 - 2
Condo Media - September 2017 - 3
Condo Media - September 2017 - 4
Condo Media - September 2017 - 5
Condo Media - September 2017 - 6
Condo Media - September 2017 - 7
Condo Media - September 2017 - 8
Condo Media - September 2017 - BB3
Condo Media - September 2017 - BB4
Condo Media - September 2017 - 9
Condo Media - September 2017 - 10
Condo Media - September 2017 - 11
Condo Media - September 2017 - 12
Condo Media - September 2017 - 13
Condo Media - September 2017 - 14
Condo Media - September 2017 - 15
Condo Media - September 2017 - 16
Condo Media - September 2017 - 17
Condo Media - September 2017 - 18
Condo Media - September 2017 - 19
Condo Media - September 2017 - 20
Condo Media - September 2017 - 21
Condo Media - September 2017 - 22
Condo Media - September 2017 - 23
Condo Media - September 2017 - 24
Condo Media - September 2017 - 25
Condo Media - September 2017 - 26
Condo Media - September 2017 - 27
Condo Media - September 2017 - 28
Condo Media - September 2017 - 29
Condo Media - September 2017 - 30
Condo Media - September 2017 - 31
Condo Media - September 2017 - 32
Condo Media - September 2017 - 33
Condo Media - September 2017 - 34
Condo Media - September 2017 - 35
Condo Media - September 2017 - 36
Condo Media - September 2017 - 37
Condo Media - September 2017 - 38
Condo Media - September 2017 - 39
Condo Media - September 2017 - 40
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 42
Condo Media - September 2017 - 43
Condo Media - September 2017 - 44
Condo Media - September 2017 - 45
Condo Media - September 2017 - 46
Condo Media - September 2017 - 47
Condo Media - September 2017 - 48
Condo Media - September 2017 - 49
Condo Media - September 2017 - 50
Condo Media - September 2017 - 51
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 53
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 55
Condo Media - September 2017 - 56
Condo Media - September 2017 - 57
Condo Media - September 2017 - 58
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 60
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 62
Condo Media - September 2017 - 63
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 65
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Condo Media - September 2017 - 70
Condo Media - September 2017 - 71
Condo Media - September 2017 - 72
Condo Media - September 2017 - Cover3
Condo Media - September 2017 - Cover4
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