| 23 | | - | SECTION 1. Sections 42-63.1-2 and 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 1 |
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| 24 | | - | entitled "Tourism and Development" are hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 25 | | - | 42-63.1-2. Definitions. 3 |
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| 26 | | - | For the purposes of this chapter: 4 |
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| 27 | | - | (1) “Consideration” means the monetary charge for the use of space devoted to transient 5 |
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| 28 | | - | lodging accommodations. 6 |
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| 29 | | - | (2) “Corporation” means the Rhode Island commerce corporation. 7 |
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| 30 | | - | (3) “District” means the regional tourism districts set forth in § 42-63.1-5. 8 |
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| 31 | | - | (4) “Hotel” means any facility offering a minimum of one (1) room for which the public 9 |
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| 32 | | - | may, for a consideration, obtain transient lodging accommodations. The term “hotel” shall include 10 |
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| 33 | | - | hotels, motels, tourist homes, tourist camps, lodging houses, and inns. The term “hotel” shall also 11 |
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| 34 | | - | include houses, condominiums or other residential dwelling units, regardless of the number of 12 |
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| 35 | | - | rooms, which are used and/or advertised for rent for occupancy. The term “hotel” shall not include 13 |
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| 36 | | - | schools, hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, and chronic care centers. 14 |
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| 37 | | - | (5) “Hosting platform” means any electronic or operating system in which a person or 15 |
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| 38 | | - | entity provides a means through which an owner may offer a residential unit for “tourist or 16 |
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| 39 | | - | transient” use. This service is usually, though not necessarily, provided through an online or web-17 |
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| 40 | | - | based system which generally allows an owner to advertise the residential unit through a hosted 18 |
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| 23 | + | SECTION 1. Section 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 entitled "Tourism 1 |
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| 24 | + | and Development" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 25 | + | 42-63.1-14. Offering residential units through a hosting platform. 3 |
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| 26 | + | (a) For any rental property offered for tourist or transient use on a hosting platform that 4 |
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| 27 | + | collects and remits applicable sales and hotel taxes in compliance with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44-5 |
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| 28 | + | 18-18, and 44-18-36.1, cities, towns, or municipalities shall not prohibit the owner from offering 6 |
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| 29 | + | the unit for tourist or transient use through such hosting platform, or prohibit such hosting platform 7 |
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| 30 | + | from providing a person or entity the means to rent, pay for, or otherwise reserve a residential unit 8 |
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| 31 | + | for tourist or transient use. A hosting platform shall comply with the requirement imposed upon 9 |
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| 32 | + | room resellers in §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i) and 44-18-36.1 in order for the prohibition of this section to 10 |
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| 33 | + | apply. The division of taxation shall at the request of a city, town, or municipality confirm whether 11 |
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| 34 | + | a hosting platform is registered in compliance with § 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i). 12 |
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| 35 | + | (b) Any short-term rental property listed for rent on the website of any third-party hosting 13 |
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| 36 | + | platform that conducts business in Rhode Island shall be registered with the department of business 14 |
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| 37 | + | regulation. The registration shall provide the information necessary to identify the property 15 |
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| 38 | + | pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “short-term rental” 16 |
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| 39 | + | means a person, firm, or corporation’s utilization, for transient lodging accommodations, not to 17 |
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| 40 | + | exceed thirty (30) nights at a time. 18 |
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| 43 | | - | LC002046/SUB A/2 - Page 2 of 5 |
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| 44 | | - | website and provides a means for a person or entity to arrange, or otherwise facilitate reservations 1 |
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| 45 | | - | for, tourist or transient use in exchange for payment, whether the person or entity pays rent directly 2 |
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| 46 | | - | to the owner or to the hosting platform. All hosting platforms are required to collect and remit the 3 |
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| 47 | | - | tax owed under this section. 4 |
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| 48 | | - | (6) “Occupancy” means a person, firm or corporation’s use of space for transient lodging 5 |
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| 49 | | - | accommodations not to exceed thirty (30) days. Excluded from “occupancy” is the use of space for 6 |
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| 50 | | - | which the occupant has a written lease for the space, which lease covers a rental period of twelve 7 |
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| 51 | | - | (12) months or more. Furthermore, any house, condominium or other residential dwelling rented, 8 |
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| 52 | | - | for which the occupant has a documented arrangement for the space covering a rental period of 9 |
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| 53 | | - | more than thirty (30) consecutive days or for one calendar month is excluded from the definition 10 |
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| 54 | | - | of occupancy. 11 |
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| 55 | | - | (7) “Tax” means the hotel tax imposed by § 44-18-36.1(a). 12 |
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| 56 | | - | (8) “Owner” means any person who owns real property and is the owner of record. Owner 13 |
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| 57 | | - | shall also include a lessee where the lessee is offering a residential unit for “tourist or transient” 14 |
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| 58 | | - | use. 15 |
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| 59 | | - | (9) “Residential unit” means a room or rooms, including a condominium or a room or a 16 |
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| 60 | | - | dwelling unit that forms part of a single, joint or shared tenant arrangement, in any building, or 17 |
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| 61 | | - | portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let, or hired out to be occupied for non-18 |
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| 62 | | - | commercial use. 19 |
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| 63 | | - | (10) “Tour operator” means a person that derives a majority of his or her or its revenue by 20 |
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| 64 | | - | providing tour operator packages. 21 |
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| 65 | | - | (11) “Tour operator packages” means travel packages that include the services of a tour 22 |
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| 66 | | - | guide and where the itinerary encompasses five (5) or more consecutive days. 23 |
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| 67 | | - | (12) “Tourist or transient” means any use of a residential unit for occupancy for less than 24 |
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| 68 | | - | a thirty (30) consecutive day term of tenancy, or occupancy for less than thirty (30) consecutive 25 |
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| 69 | | - | days of a residential unit leased or owned by a business entity, whether on a short-term or long-26 |
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| 70 | | - | terms basis, including any occupancy by employee or guests of a business entity for less than thirty 27 |
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| 71 | | - | (30) consecutive days where payment for the residential unit is contracted for or paid by the 28 |
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| 72 | | - | business entity. 29 |
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| 73 | | - | 42-63.1-14. Offering residential units through a hosting platform. 30 |
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| 74 | | - | (a) For any rental property offered for tourist or transient use on a hosting platform that 31 |
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| 75 | | - | collects and remits applicable sales and hotel taxes in compliance with §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i), 44-32 |
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| 76 | | - | 18-18, and 44-18-36.1, cities, towns, or municipalities shall not prohibit the owner from offering 33 |
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| 77 | | - | the unit for tourist or transient use through such hosting platform, or prohibit such hosting platform 34 |
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| 43 | + | LC002046 - Page 2 of 4 |
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| 44 | + | (c) The department of business regulation shall contact all hosting platforms that list 1 |
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| 45 | + | property in Rhode Island on their website for rent and that submit hotel taxes to the division of 2 |
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| 46 | + | taxation and shall provide notice of the registration requirement, pursuant to this section, instructing 3 |
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| 47 | + | the hosting platforms to notify their listed properties to register with the department of business 4 |
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| 48 | + | regulation by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines pursuant to § 42-63.1-14.1. 5 |
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| 49 | + | (d) The state registration pursuant to this section shall include: 6 |
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| 50 | + | (1) The principal place of business of the owner, or if outside the state, the agent for service 7 |
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| 51 | + | of process or property manager for the owner; 8 |
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| 52 | + | (2) The phone number of the owner of the property and/or property manager; 9 |
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| 53 | + | (3) The email address of the property owner and/or property manager; 10 |
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| 54 | + | (4) The address of the rental property; 11 |
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| 55 | + | (5) The number of rooms for rent at the property; 12 |
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| 56 | + | (6) Whether the registrant rents or owns; and 13 |
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| 57 | + | (7) Intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space). 14 |
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| 58 | + | (e) The assigned registration number shall consist of numeric and alpha characters, the 15 |
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| 59 | + | alpha characters shall correspond to the city/town where the property is located and shall be uniform 16 |
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| 60 | + | for the remaining properties in said city/town. 17 |
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| 61 | + | (f) The department of business regulation shall notify all hosting platforms to contact all 18 |
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| 62 | + | listed properties by December 31, 2021, to ensure compliance with this section and if the listed 19 |
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| 63 | + | properties are not duly registered after six (6) months, the hosting platform shall remove the 20 |
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| 64 | + | property listing from its website. 21 |
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| 65 | + | (g) The department of business regulation shall promulgate rules and regulations to 22 |
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| 66 | + | correspond with and enforce this section and § 42-63.1-14.1 and may charge a registration fee to 23 |
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| 67 | + | property owners registering with the department pursuant to this section. 24 |
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| 68 | + | (h) The department of business regulation shall create an online database to store all 25 |
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| 69 | + | registered short-term rental units, and each unit shall have an online identification number in said 26 |
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| 70 | + | database to correspond with subsection (e) of this section. 27 |
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| 71 | + | (i) Any owner of the property who or that fails to register with the department of business 28 |
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| 72 | + | regulation as prescribed herein and lists the property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform 29 |
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| 73 | + | website shall be subject to a civil fine as follows: 30 |
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| 74 | + | (1) Two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first thirty (30) days of non-compliance; 31 |
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| 75 | + | (2) Five hundred dollars ($500) for between thirty-one (31) and sixty (60) days of non-32 |
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| 76 | + | compliance; and 33 |
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| 77 | + | (3) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for more than sixty (60) days of non-compliance. 34 |
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| 80 | | - | LC002046/SUB A/2 - Page 3 of 5 |
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| 81 | | - | from providing a person or entity the means to rent, pay for, or otherwise reserve a residential unit 1 |
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| 82 | | - | for tourist or transient use. A hosting platform shall comply with the requirement imposed upon 2 |
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| 83 | | - | room resellers in §§ 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i) and 44-18-36.1 in order for the prohibition of this section to 3 |
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| 84 | | - | apply. The division of taxation shall at the request of a city, town, or municipality confirm whether 4 |
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| 85 | | - | a hosting platform is registered in compliance with § 44-18-7.3(b)(4)(i). 5 |
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| 86 | | - | (b) Any short-term rental property listed for rent on the website of any third-party hosting 6 |
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| 87 | | - | platform that conducts business in Rhode Island shall be registered with the department of business 7 |
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| 88 | | - | regulation. The registration shall provide the information necessary to identify the property 8 |
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| 89 | | - | pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “short-term rental” 9 |
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| 90 | | - | means a person, firm, or corporation’s utilization, for transient lodging accommodations, not to 10 |
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| 91 | | - | exceed thirty (30) nights at a time. 11 |
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| 92 | | - | (c) The department of business regulation shall contact all hosting platforms that list 12 |
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| 93 | | - | property in Rhode Island on their website for rent and that submit hotel taxes to the division of 13 |
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| 94 | | - | taxation and shall provide notice of the registration requirement, pursuant to this section, instructing 14 |
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| 95 | | - | the hosting platforms to notify their listed properties to register with the department of business 15 |
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| 96 | | - | regulation annually by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines pursuant to § 42-63.1-14.1. 16 |
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| 97 | | - | (d) The state registration pursuant to this section shall include: 17 |
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| 98 | | - | (1) The principal place of business of the owner, or if outside the state, the agent for service 18 |
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| 99 | | - | of process or property manager for the owner; 19 |
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| 100 | | - | (2) The phone number of the owner of the property and/or property manager; 20 |
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| 101 | | - | (3) The email address of the property owner and/or property manager; 21 |
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| 102 | | - | (4) The address of the rental property; 22 |
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| 103 | | - | (5) The number of rooms for rent at the property; 23 |
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| 104 | | - | (6) Whether the registrant rents or owns; and 24 |
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| 105 | | - | (7) Intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space). 25 |
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| 106 | | - | (e) The assigned registration number shall consist of numeric and alpha characters, the 26 |
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| 107 | | - | alpha characters shall correspond to the city/town where the property is located and shall be uniform 27 |
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| 108 | | - | for the remaining properties in said city/town. 28 |
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| 109 | | - | (f) The department of business regulation shall notify all hosting platforms to contact all 29 |
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| 110 | | - | listed properties by December 31, 2021, to ensure compliance with this section The registration 30 |
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| 111 | | - | number shall be valid for the calendar year during which it is assigned, and if the a listed properties 31 |
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| 112 | | - | are property is not duly registered after six (6) months the expiration of the annual registration 32 |
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| 113 | | - | period, the hosting platform shall remove the property listing from its website. 33 |
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| 114 | | - | (g) The department of business regulation shall promulgate rules and regulations to 34 |
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| 115 | | - | |
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| 116 | | - | |
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| 117 | | - | LC002046/SUB A/2 - Page 4 of 5 |
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| 118 | | - | correspond with and enforce this section and § 42-63.1-14.1 and may charge a registration fee to 1 |
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| 119 | | - | property owners registering with the department pursuant to this section. 2 |
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| 120 | | - | (h) The department of business regulation shall create an online database to store all 3 |
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| 121 | | - | registered short-term rental units, and each unit shall have an online identification number in said 4 |
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| 122 | | - | database to correspond with subsection (e) of this section. 5 |
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| 123 | | - | (i) Any owner of the property who or that fails to register with the department of business 6 |
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| 124 | | - | regulation as prescribed herein and lists the property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform 7 |
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| 125 | | - | website shall be subject to a civil fine as follows: 8 |
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| 126 | | - | (1) Two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first thirty (30) days of non-compliance; 9 |
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| 127 | | - | (2) Five hundred dollars ($500) for between thirty-one (31) and sixty (60) days of non-10 |
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| 128 | | - | compliance; and 11 |
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| 129 | | - | (3) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for more than sixty (60) days of non-compliance. 12 |
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| 130 | | - | (j) Notwithstanding any other law or provision to the contrary, no hosting platform shall 13 |
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| 131 | | - | list any residence for short-term rental for tourist or transient use without the property’s current, 14 |
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| 132 | | - | valid registration number, and its expiration date, which shall be displayed on the listing. Any 15 |
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| 133 | | - | hosting platform that offers short-term rental of residential property for tourist or transient use 16 |
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| 134 | | - | without displaying the current, valid registration number of a property, and its expiration date, shall 17 |
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| 135 | | - | be subject to a civil fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day per violation, with each property 18 |
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| 136 | | - | listing constituting a separate violation. 19 |
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| 137 | | - | (k) A hosting platform shall provide to the department of business regulation, on a monthly 20 |
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| 138 | | - | basis, an electronic report, in a format determined by the department of business regulation, of the 21 |
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| 139 | | - | listings maintained, authorized, facilitated or advertised by the hosting platform within the state for 22 |
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| 140 | | - | the applicable reporting period. The report shall include a breakdown of where the listings are 23 |
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| 141 | | - | located, whether the listing is for a room or a whole unit, and shall include the number of nights 24 |
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| 142 | | - | each unit was reported as occupied during the applicable reporting period. 25 |
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| 143 | | - | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024. 26 |
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| 80 | + | LC002046 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 81 | + | (j) Notwithstanding any other law or provision to the contrary, no hosting platform shall 1 |
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| 82 | + | list any residence for short-term rental for tourist or transient use without the property’s current, 2 |
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| 83 | + | valid registration number, which shall be displayed on the listing. Any hosting platform that offers 3 |
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| 84 | + | short-term rental of residential property for tourist or transient use without displaying the current, 4 |
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| 85 | + | valid registration number of a property shall be subject to a civil fine of two hundred fifty dollars 5 |
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| 86 | + | ($250) per day per violation, with each property listing constituting a separate violation. 6 |
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| 87 | + | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on September 1, 2023. 7 |
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