Longboat Key gears up to enforce short-term rental ban

Wayne Natt rented his home on Airbnb for almost two years before a tenant reported finding hidden video cameras in the ceiling, Longboat Key Police said.

That case, which resulted in several felony video voyeurism charges against the landlord and a still-developing forfeiture proceeding against the property, revealed what town officials say was another underlying offense: It’s illegal to rent homes on Longboat Key for fewer than 30 days without a business license.

How do property owners do it?

“The rental management websites, like AirBnb and VRBO — most of the rental listings don’t have the addresses on there,” said code enforcement officer Chris Elbon. “So you’ve got to figure it out from complaints or the photos on the website.”

Therein lies the difficulty in enforcing what Longboat Key has identified as a priority for this coming year: How does the town stop people from breaking its rules that prohibit short-term rentals if it can’t identify those who run afoul of town laws?

Some municipalities have purchased software designed to locate and target properties found to be violating rules for short term rentals.

Elbon said he’s researched the software but, after discovering that it could cost the town tens of thousands of dollars, he said he and former Town Manager Dave Bullock decided it would not be worth passing that burden onto the taxpayers.

The solution the town has proposed to address the issue came in the form of a proposed ordinance before the Town Commission this past month. The proposed law would give Longboat Key Code Enforcement the authority to issue on-the-spot citations to individuals and organizations that break the town’s rules for turtle protection, construction management or short-term rentals. It would work much like a police officer issuing a traffic ticket.

More than 300 rental properties appear on Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway websites when searching for Longboat Key. For example, for Memorial Day weekend, a property on Longboat Key is offered at $227 per night for three nights, plus a service charge and cleaning fee.

The town’s proposed fine process — $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense — is part of an effort to ensure its rules are followed. The town must now issue two written notices for code violations before fines may be levied at a meeting of the Code Enforcement Board.

As for short-term rentals, those citations could be threefold: Code enforcement would have the authority to cite the property owner, the renter and the third-party renting agency for violations of town codes, said Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale.

That means Longboat Key could fine Airbnb up to $500 if the company is found violating the town’s short-term rental rules. Airbnb declined to comment.

The outcome code enforcement is hoping for is voluntary compliance.

“People will speed, but when they know that there’s the potential of getting a citation, less people are likely to speed,” Elbon said.