ORDINANCE No.
Amend Transient Lodgings Tax Code related to the administration of short-term rental
laws; require short-term rental platforms to either enter into a pass-through registration
data-sharing agreement or choose listing locations from a Short-Term Rental Registry
created by the City (Ordinance; amend Code Chapter 6.04)
The City of Portland ordains:
Section 1. The Council finds:
1. The City of Portland legalized short-term rentals in 2014. Legalization came with a
requirement that short-term rental “hosts” obtain a valid Accessory Short-Term
Rental (“ASTR”) permit from the Bureau of Development Services (BDS).
2. Since 2014, BDS and the Revenue Division (“Revenue”) of the Bureau of Revenue
and Financial Services have been working with short-term rental platforms
(“Platforms”) to increase permitting compliance. These efforts have largely failed,
and compliance still stands at under 30%.
3. Following litigation started in October 2015, Revenue reached a settlement
agreement with HomeAway in February 2018. The agreement included a provision
for HomeAway to share host data directly with the Revenue Division to aid in the
enforcement of City regulations.
The agreement included a provision that
HomeAway would not start sharing data with Revenue until Airbnb agreed to do the
same, keeping them at competitive equilibrium.
4. Revenue has been negotiating with Airbnb for over a year, but no agreement has
been reached. The most recent Airbnb offer moves backward from prior discussions
and tentative verbal agreements, such as putting limitations on what the data can be
used for, insisting that it be held confidential, and refusing to remove Platform listings
that are not in compliance with the City’s regulations. The delay in getting an
agreement from Airbnb has rendered meaningless the agreement Revenue already
has with HomeAway, and compliance rates remain very low.
5. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
recently upheld a lower court ruling that the City of Santa Monica, California’s
ordinance requiring Platforms to only use hosts that are permitted by the City of
Santa Monica is legal. The ordinance prohibits Platforms from booking transactions
for residential properties unless they are on a registry published by the City of Santa
Monica. They also prohibit Platforms from receiving a fee for facilitating bookings on
listings that are not on the City of Santa Monica’s registry.
6. This ordinance replicates the City of Santa Monica’s approach.
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 7. Revenue and the City Attorney’s Office have determined that Portland can and
should pass a similar ordinance to break the impasse of negotiations and finally
obtain a way to ensure all Platforms and hosts are in compliance with the law.
8. Pass-through registration data-sharing agreements can still be beneficial for the City
of Portland. Such agreements could be structured to provide the City additional
information about listing locations and transactions and ensure that Platforms are
partners in enforcing the City Code.
9. A pass-through registration data-sharing agreement also has benefits for Platforms.
Examples include the ability to begin listing locations in advance of obtaining permits
and obtaining confirmation from the City that listing locations are legal.
10. These Code amendments would give Platforms a choice between either choosing
hosts from the City’s approved Short-Term Rental Registry or entering into a passthrough registration data-sharing agreement with the Revenue Division with
minimum specific information as directed below.
NOW, THEREFORE, The Council directs:
a. City Code Section 6.04 is amended as set forth in the attached EXHIBIT A.
b. The Revenue Division of the Bureau of Revenue and Financial Services is
authorized to negotiate and execute pass-through registration data-sharing
agreements with Platforms. The data shared must include, at a minimum, all the
data outlined in the attached EXHIBIT B.
Passed by the Council:
Mayor Ted Wheeler
Prepared by: Thomas W. Lannom
Date Prepared: March 18, 2019

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Mary Hull Caballero
Auditor of the City of Portland
By
Deputy