Airbnb Ballot Petition

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INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY TO THE VOTERSThe City Attorney has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the

proposed measure:SHORT-TERM RENTALS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING

City law prohibits the short-term rental of residential housing for periods of fewer than 30 days. Proposed legislation before the City’s Board of Supervisors would allow those rentals under certain conditions.Owners and renters use internet websites and electronic applications operated by third-party brokers to make residential housing available for vacation stays and other short-term rentals.The City requires short-term renters to pay the same local taxes on temporary occupancy that apply to hotel rooms. The operators of short-term rentals must collect those taxes and transmit them to the City.The proposed measure does not itself allow owners, renters and third-party brokers to make residential housing available for short-term rentals. But it would require any owner, renter or third-party broker who wishes to offer a short-term rental of residential housing to:

• register the street address of the short-term rental with the City’s Treasurer;• confirm that the short-term rental does not violate any laws, including any local tax, planning or zoning

laws; and• obtain at least $250,000 in insurance coverage for the short-term rental and provide proof of insurance at

the time of registration.If a renter is offering the short-term rental, then the renter would be required to provide written proof that the property owner allows short-term rentals. The proposed measure would require third-party brokers of short-term rentals to be primarily responsible for collecting local occupancy taxes and transmitting those taxes to the City.The proposed measure would prohibit four types of residential units from being offered as short-term rentals:

• any unit that has received affordable housing funds from any state, local, or federal agency, including down payment assistance;

• any unit that has been the subject of an Ellis Act eviction (where the owner takes the unit out of the rental market);

• any in-law unit; and• any affordable housing unit.

The proposed measure would require the Treasurer to create a website listing all registered short-term rentals. The proposed measure would also allow any person to file a complaint with the Treasurer regarding possible violations of the ordinance. If the Treasurer finds a violation, then the Treasurer could fine the violator and prohibit the violator from offering any further short-term rentals of the property.WORD COUNT: 392 [Maximum: 500 words][Department of Elections file no. 14-04]

City and County of San Francisco Ordinance Regulating Illegal Use of Housing for Tourist Accommodations

Preamble:At a time when San Francisco faces its most severe housing shortage in more than 100 years, an increasing number of apartments, condominiums, houses, and portions thereof are offered and advertised as short-term rentals on websites, such as AirBNB and VRBO. In recent months, the number of such listings has exceeded 9,000. These listings contribute greatly to the disappearance of affordable housing in the City and County of San Francisco. To date, not a single online travel agency that advertises short-term residential rentals to tourists has paid the established Transient Occupancy Tax levied on hotels, despite a determination by the City in 2012 that they are liable for the tax. This ordinance is intended to stop the proliferation of short-term rentals through online travel agencies by requiring the registration prior to listing with an online travel agency; the verification of registration by the agencies prior to accepting listings; and allowing citizens to enforce the requirements of this ordinance through a complaint process.

Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:

SEC. 41B.1 TITLE

This chapter shall be known as Neighborhood Preservation and Public Revenue Recovery Ordinance.

SEC. 41B.2 PURPOSE

It is the purpose of this ordinance to benefit the general public by requiring short-term rentals to be registered, insured and in compliance with all city, state and federal laws; requiring online travel agencies to verify the validity of housing unit registration prior to advertising the unit’s availability; affirming the City’s determination that such rentals are subject to the Transient Occupancy Tax, as set forth in Article 7 of the San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code; and through establishing appropriate administrative and judicial remedies, such that citizens may file a complaint alleging violation of this Chapter.

SEC. 41B.3. FINDINGS.

The people of the City and County of San Francisco (the “City”) find that:

(a) It is estimated that the short-term rental market in San Francisco costs the City millions of dollars annually in lost transient occupancy tax revenue.

(b) By removing residential units from the housing market, short-term rentals contribute greatly to the lack of affordable housing in the City.

(c) In order to protect and conserve the City’s housing stock, it is in the public interest to regulate short-term rentals and provide remedies when rentals occur in violation of this Chapter.

(d) It is important that we conserve, protect and preserve the existing housing, cultural and economic diversity of our neighborhoods.

SEC. 41B.4. DEFINITIONS.

(a) Broker. Any entity or person, including but not limited to, on-line websites, on-line travel agencies, and on-line booking agents, that offers, lists, advertises, accepts reservations and/or collects whole or partial payment for Short Term Rentals of Residential Units.

(b) City. The City and County of San Francisco.

(c) Owner. Owner includes any person who is the owner of record of a Residential Unit and shall include Home Owners Association Boards for Residential Units that are tenants-in-common units or condominiums.

(d) Permanent Resident. A person who occupies a Residential Unit for at least 60 consecutive days with intent to establish that unit as his or her principal place of residence.

(e) Residential Unit. Room or rooms (or any portion thereof), including but not limited to single family homes, apartments, flats, condominiums, or a room or Dwelling Unit that forms part of a tenancy-in-common arrangement, in any building, or any portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied, or which is occupied for Residential Use.

(f) Residential Use. A use which provides housing for San Francisco residents, rather than visitors, including a “dwelling unit” or “group housing”, as defined below, or a residential hotel, as defined in sections 790.47 and 890.47 of the Planning Code of the City and Section 41 of Administrative Code of the City on April 1, 2014.

1. Dwelling Unit. A Residential Use which consists of a studio apartment or a suite of two or more rooms and includes sleeping, bathing, cooking, and eating facilities, but has only one kitchen.

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2. Group Housing. A Residential Use which provides lodging or both meals and lodging without individual cooking facilities for a week or more at a time in a space not defined as a Dwelling Unit. Group housing includes, but is not limited to, a rooming house, boarding house, guest house, lodging house, board and care facilities, nursing homes, residence club, commune, fraternity and sorority house, monastery, nunnery, convent, and ashram. It also includes group housing operated by a medical or educational institution when not located on the same lot as such institution.

(g) Short-Term Rental. The rental of all or a portion of a Residential Unit for less than a 30-day consecutive tenancy by an Owner, Broker or Permanent Resident. A Short-Term Rental is not a Residential Use.

SEC. 41B.5. REGISTRATION AND REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Any Owner, Broker or Permanent Resident that offers a Residential Unit as a Short-Term Rental shall first register the street address of the Short-Term Rental with the Treasurer of the City. A Permanent Resident must also submit written proof of authorization from his or her Owner agreeing to the Short-Term Rental of the Residential Unit. The Treasurer shall create and publish on a dedicated webpage available to the public a detailed and current listing of all Short-Term Rentals, including address, name of registrant and Broker, if applicable.

(b) As part of the required registration, the Owner or Permanent Resident must also acknowledge and confirm that the Short-Term Rental of a Residential Unit does not violate any laws of the State of California, federal government and the City, including but not limited to the Administrative, Business and Tax Regulations, Planning and the Zoning Codes of the City.

(c) All Short-Term Rentals shall be insured by homeowner’s or rental property insurance, as the case may be, in an amount not less than $250,000 per incident. Any insurance policy obtained by a Permanent Resident shall name the Owner as an additional insured party. Proof of said insurance must be submitted at the time of registration.

(d) All persons, including but not limited to Owners, Permanent Residents, and Brokers shall comply with Articles 6 and 7 of the City’s Business and Tax Regulations Code. A Broker that collects any revenue from arranging or listing a Short-Term Rental shall have primary responsibility for collecting, paying and transmitting all tax due to the City pursuant to said Article 7.

(e) Every Broker shall ensure that each Short Term Rental is registered with the City prior to listing or advertising said property for rent.

(f) All persons and entities offering or listing Short-Term Rentals shall retain and make available to Treasurer of the City, records to demonstrate compliance with this Chapter.

(g) A Residential Unit that (1) received funds from any local, state or federal affordable housing source, including down payment assistance; (2) has been the subject of an Ellis Act eviction; (3) is an “in-law” or secondary unit created or legalized under local law; or (4) is a below market rate (BMR) or inclusionary unit (as defined in the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program Monitoring and Procedures Manual adopted pursuant to Article 4 of the Planning Code), is prohibited from being offered as a Short Term Rental.

(h) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Chapter, the Owner(s) of Group Housing are not required to comply with the registration requirements of this Chapter.

SEC. 41B.6. ENFORCEMENT.

Administrative

(a) Complaint. Any person or entity that believes that this Chapter has been violated may file a complaint with the Treasurer specifying such violation. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Treasurer shall notify, in writing, the person or entity named in the complaint of the filing of a complaint.

(b) Notice. Within 15 days of the filing of a complaint and upon the Treasurer’s independent finding that there may be a violation of this Chapter, the Treasurer shall notify the Complainant, and the Broker, Owner or Permanent Resident, as the case may be, by certified mail that the Residential Unit is the subject of an investigation for an unlawful use and provide the date, time, and place of an administrative review hearing in which said party can respond to the complaint.

(c) Hearings. In the event the Treasurer determines that an administrative review hearing shall be conducted, the Treasurer’s appointed hearing officer will hold an administrative review hearing within 60 days of the filing of the complaint to review all information provided by the complainant, members of the public, City staff and the Broker, Owner or Permanent Resident, as the case may be, for the investigation and the Hearing Officer shall thereafter make a determination whether a violation of this Chapter has occurred.

(1) Notice of the hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the building that is the subject of the hearing. The Broker, Owner or Permanent Resident, as the case may be, shall state under oath at the hearing that the notice remained posted for at least 10 calendar days prior the hearing. The Treasurer shall appoint a hearing officer to conduct the hearing.

(2) Pre-hearing Submission. No less than ten business days prior to the administrative review hearing, parties to the hearing shall submit written information to the Treasurer including, but not limited to, the issues to be determined by the Hearing Officer and the evidence to be offered at the hearing. Such information shall be forwarded to the hearing officer prior to the hearing along with any information compiled by the Treasurer.

(3) Hearing Procedure. If more than one hearing is requested for residential units located in the same building at or about the same time, the Treasurer shall consolidate all of the hearings into one hearing. The hearing shall be recorded. Any party to the hearing may at his or her own expense cause the hearing to be recorded by a certified court reporter. Parties may be represented by counsel and shall have the right to cross-examine witnesses. All testimony shall be given under oath. Written decisions and findings shall be rendered by the hearing officer within 20 working days of the hearing. Copies of the findings and decision shall be served upon all parties, including the Complainant, if any, by certified mail. A notice that a copy of the findings and decision is available for inspection between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday shall be posted by the owner or the Treasurer in the building in the same location in which the notice of the administrative review hearing was posted.

(4) Failure to Appear. In the event an interested party fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing officer may nevertheless make a determination based on the evidence in the record and files at the time of the hearing, and issue a written decision and findings.

(5) Finality of the Hearing Officer’s Decision and Judicial Review. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final. Within 20 calendar days after service of the hearing officer’s decision, any party may seek judicial review of the hearing officer’s decision.

(6) Hearing Officer Decision and Collection of Penalties. If any imposed administrative penalties and costs have not been deposited at the time of the Hearing Officer’s decision, the Treasurer may proceed to collect the penalties and costs pursuant to the lien procedures set forth in subsection (e) below, consistent with the Hearing Officer’s decision.

(7) Remedy of Violation. If the Hearing Officer determines that a violation has occurred, the Hearing Officer’s Decision should:

(i) Specify a reasonable period of time during which the owner must correct or otherwise remedy the violation; and

(ii) State that if the violation is not corrected or otherwise remedied within this period, the owner may be required to pay the administrative penalties set forth in subsection (d) below.

(8) If the Hearing Officer determines that no violation has occurred, the determination is final.

(d) Notice of Continuing Violation and Imposition of Penalties. The Treasurer shall notify the Broker, Owner or Permanent Resident, as the case may be, by certified mail that the violation has continued unabated and that administrative penalties shall be imposed as set forth below.

(1) Administrative Penalties. For a violation concerning the use of a registered Residential Unit, the Treasurer can revoke such registration; and/or issue an order reasonably calculated to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Chapter. In addition, any person or entity may be liable for civil penalties in accordance with the following schedule:

(a) For the first violation, $1,000.00; (b) For the second violation, $3,000.00; and (c) For the third violation, $5,000.00.

(2) Enforcement Costs. The Broker, Owner or Permanent Resident, as the case may be, shall reimburse the City for the costs of enforcement of this Chapter, which shall include, but not be limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees.

The notice shall state the time of the continued existence of the violation and the resulting imposition of penalties. Payment of the administrative penalties and enforcement costs shall be made within 30 days of the certified mailed notice to the owner. If the administrative penalties and enforcement costs are not paid, the Treasurer may initiate lien procedures to secure the amount of the penalties and costs against the real property that is subject to this Chapter, under Article XX of Chapter 10 of the San Francisco Administrative Code to make the penalty, plus accrued interest, a lien against the real property regulated under this Chapter. Except for the release of the lien recording fee authorized by Administrative Code Section 10.237, all sums collected by the Tax Collector pursuant to this ordinance shall be held in trust by the Treasurer and distributed as provided below.

(e) Deposit of Penalties. Administrative penalties paid pursuant to this Chapter shall be deposited in the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Housing Affordability Fund less the reasonable costs incurred by the City and County of San Francisco in pursuing enforcement under this Chapter. If enforcement costs were

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imposed, such funds shall be distributed according to the purpose for which they were collected.

(f) The City Attorney may also maintain an action for damages, declaratory relief, specific performance, injunction, or any other appropriate relief in the Superior Court in and for the County of San Francisco for any violation of any provision of this Act or any approval granted under this Chapter. If the City is the prevailing party, the City shall be entitled to the costs of enforcing this Chapter, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, up to the amount of the monetary award, pursuant to an order of the Court. Any monetary award obtained by the City shall be deposited in the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Housing Affordability Fund less the reasonable costs incurred by the City in pursuing the civil action. SEC. 41B.7. CONSTRUCTION/IMPLEMENTATION.

(a) No section, clause, part or provision of this Chapter shall be construed as requiring the payment of any fee for engaging in a business or the doing of an act when such payment or act would constitute an unlawful burden upon or an unlawful interference with interstate or foreign commerce, or which payment or act would be in violation of the United States Constitution or a statute of the United States or of the California Constitution or a statute of the State of California. If any

section, clause, part or provision of this Chapter conflicts with any ordinance, code or regulation heretofore or hereafter adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the City, the provisions of this Chapter shall prevail. Further, if any section, clause, part or provision of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Chapter, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, the provisions of this Chapter are severable.

(b) City and its agencies, including the Board of Supervisors, shall take whatever action is necessary to implement and enforce the provisions of this Chapter within 60 days from its passage.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO CIRCULATE PETITION

Notice is hereby given by the person whose name appears hereon of his intention to circulate the petition within the City and County of San Francisco for the purpose of:

Protecting tenants, landlords, property owners and neighborhood residents, as well as the City’s housing supply, from illegal short-term rentals promoted by online travel agencies; promulgating rules and regulations governing short-term rentals; and reaffirming the City’s determination that short-term rentals are subject to the Transient Occupancy Tax, which shall be collected and remitted by online travel agencies

I decline to submit the optional statement of the reasons of the proposed action as contemplated in the petition.

Dale A. Carlson 5/23/14 NAME OF PROPONENT PROPONENT’S SIGNATURE DATE

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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: THIS PETITION MAY BE CIRCULATED BY A PAID SIGNATURE GATHERER OR A VOLUNTEER. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK.

Official Use OnlyUse Pen Only -- PLEASE PRINT ALL INFORMATION EXCEPT SIGNATURE

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I, _________________________________________________, am 18 years or older.

My residence address is: _____________________________________________________________.

I circulated this section of the petition and witnessed each of the appended signatures being written. Each signature on this petition is, to the best of my information and belief, the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. All signatures on this document were obtained between the dates of

_____________________ and _____________________.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on: __________________, at ___________________________, California. ______________________________________________________(Month, day, year) (Place of signing) (Circulator’s Signature)

(Month, day, year)(Month, day, year)

(Address, city, state, zip)

(Print Name of Circulator)

TO BE ENTERED BY CLERK – AFTER VALIDATIONDate # Valid – This Section By Deputy

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DECLARATION OF CIRCULATOR(to be completed in Circulator’s own handwriting after the above signatures have been obtained)



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Documents

Airbnb Ballot Petition