If you rent out a property in Cincinnati on Airbnb or similar sites, you’ll need to register with the city starting today. But there is a website for that.
The online portal allows short-term rental operators to apply in a matter of minutes, a news release from the city states, and file paperwork and pay fees related to their registration. The city will then review the application and issue a unique registration number to each successful applicant.
The registration, which is good for three years, is required after Cincinnati City Council passed an ordinance earlier this year regulating short-term rentals. That legislation also imposes a 7-percent excise tax on short-term rental operators and requires them to self-certify that their properties are in compliance with city code. Proceeds from the tax go into the city’s affordable housing trust fund.
There are roughly 880 short-term rental units in Cincinnati, with most in Over-the-Rhine, Downtown, Walnut Hills, Northside and other popular neighborhoods. That’s up from about 830 last November and the 640 the site showed this time last year. About 70 percent of those are rentals encompassing an entire house, condo or apartment — up from 60 percent this time last year. The city has seen a 41-percent annual growth rate in those rentals in recent years.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 3, 2019.
