Portland Pushing Back Against Illegal Airbnb Rentals

Portland appears to finally getting ready to crack down on illegal Airbnb rentals. The city's Bureau of Development Services will hold a hearing next month on a proposal to do take several steps to stiffen penalties on owners who break the law.

The bureau is considering several steps including doing away with the 30-day grace period that many owners have used to avoid getting the necessary paperwork.

The proposal would also raise fines $1,000 to $5,000 - depending on how many violations the owner has received - for every day that an owner violates the rules. Currently, the most an owner could be fined is $1,414 a month.

The move comes month after Willamette Week detailed how often the city's rules were being flouted - even by an employee of Airbnb.

While the city has said that Portland has lost 1,000 affordable homes to short term rentals, the company released its own study placing the number much lower.

The BDS hearing on the proposed changes will take place on December 16th.