DC Hosts Have a Little Bit Longer to Apply for the City's New Short-Term Rental License

• April 5th 2022

by UrbanTurf Staff

DC is extending the grace period for short-term rental owners in the city to apply for licenses to legitimize those rentals. 

DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) announced Tuesday that enforcement of the new short-term rental license will now begin on June 9, 2022. Originally, enforcement was set to begin on April 10. In January, owners who host short-term rentals were required to start applying for the new license.

The short-term rental license, which is valid for two years, applies to homeowners who host paid guests at their primary residence while they are on the premises. These hosts can accept guests for an unlimited number of days annually. For hosts who are not on the premises during guest stays, there is a separate vacation rental license under which there can only be guests for up to 90 days annually.

As Nena Perry-Brown wrote earlier this year, business entities will not be able to license short-term rentals and other third parties will not be able to license short-term rentals on properties they do not own. Condo and co-op owners, or homeowners subject to a homeowner's association, will need to certify that their by-laws permit short-term rentals, and applicants must meet minimum liability insurance requirements and obtain a "Certificate of Clean Hands" from the Office of Tax and Revenue. The total application cost for the short-term rental license is $104.50.

As of June 9, hosts of unlicensed short-term rentals may be subject to fines. The fine would be up to $250 for the first violation and up to $1,000 for the third violation. 

Additional information can be found here.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-hosts-have-a-little-bit-longer-to-apply-for-the-citys-new-short-term-ren/19483.