SB 593: Residential units for tourist or transient use: transient residential hosting platforms.

Session Year: 2015-2016
House: Senate

Version:

The California Constitution authorizes a county or city to make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws. Existing law also authorizes a city, county, or city and county to impose a transient occupancy tax upon occupancies of lodgings of no more than 30 days.

This bill would require an operator of a hosting platform, as defined, to report specified information quarterly to the city, county, or city and county. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county, by ordinance, to opt out from receiving reports and to subsequently opt back in, with 90 days advance notice of that ordinance to the operator of a hosting platform and to impose a fine or penalty on an operator that fails to provide the report, as specified. The bill would prohibit an operator of a hosting platform from facilitating the rental of a residential unit offered for occupancy for tourist or transient use, if such a use of that residential unit, or the offering of that residential unit for such a use, is prohibited by an ordinance of the city, county, or city and county in which that residential unit is located. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county, by ordinance, to establish a fine or penalty on an operator of a hosting platform, as specified, for a knowing violation of this provision. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to require an operator of a hosting platform to collect and remit applicable local transient occupancy tax.

This bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to adopt an ordinance that would require a transient residential hosting platform, as defined, to report specified information quarterly to the city, county, or city and county, and to establish, by ordinance, a fine or penalty on a transient residential hosting platform for failure to provide the report. The bill would make the information in the report confidential and require that it not be disclosed. The bill would authorize the city, county, or city and county receiving the report to use the report solely for transient occupancy tax and zoning administration. The bill would also authorize a city, county, or city and county to require a transient residential hosting platform to collect and remit applicable transient occupancy tax.

The bill, where a specified ordinance has been adopted, would prohibit a transient residential hosting platform from facilitating occupancy of a residential unit offered for tourist or transient use in violation of any ordinance, regulation, or law of the city, county, or city and county, and would authorize a city, county, or city and county, by ordinance, to establish a civil fine or penalty on an operator of a transient residential hosting platform for a knowing violation of this provision.

This bill would also require the operator of a transient residential hosting platform to disclose specified information regarding insurance coverage in the transient residential hosting platform agreement with an offeror of a residential unit.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Discussed in Hearing