Towns and villages are adopting laws to regulate cover short-term rentals (STRs), such as Airbnb or Vrbo. The Village of Saugerties is doing this with an amendment to its existing rental property law that adds STRs to its existing rental property law.
The Board voted unanimously to add a clause to the definitions in the law, which code enforcement officer Eyal Saad said had been prepared by the Village attorney: “A short-term rental property: any dwelling unit occupied by persons other than the owner or his immediate family for which a fee or compensation, monetary or otherwise, is received by the owner or landlord in exchange for such occupancy for a period of less than one month. This shall include, but is not limited to, rental provided by such companies as Airbnb or Vrbo. Month-to-month tenancies should not be considered short-term rental properties.”
Trustees raised the question of how the law would be enforced. While Ulster County has a list of STR properties, requests from Village officials to share the list were unsuccessful. Saad said he would look through advertising for STRs in the Village as well as take out public service ads on Lighthouse TV23 and the Village website to get the word out to landlords that they are required to register with the Village. There is no cost to registration; the aim is to have a comprehensive list of STRs.
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