Ohio Airbnb Laws and Regulations- What Hosts Should Know When Renting in the Buckeye State

Cincinnati, Ohio

Registration Now Required

Cincinnati, Ohio has enacted Airbnb laws to better track short-term rentals within city limits and protect both hosts and guests. The key requirement is for short-term rentals to register with the city and adhere to not only standard fire and safety codes, but to the Fair Housing Act in the selection of guests.  

Included in the short-term rental application is an acknowledgment that classes on the Fair Housing Act are provided by the city, and while they are not required to run a short-term rental, they are encouraged.  

• Current street mailing address, contact phone number, emergency contact phone number, and email address for the operator and the responsible on-call contact. 
• Current list of all hosting platforms the short-term rental is listed on
• A certification from the operator that said operator is the legal owner or legal tenant of the short-term rental and has prior authorization to operate as a short-term rental
• Certification that the short-term rental conforms to all building, safety, and fire codes
• Proof that the operator of the short-term rental is current on all tax and utility payments, including the short-term rental excise tax 
• Acknowledgment of all applicable non-discriminatory fair housing laws and available training on the subject 

Each permit is valid for three years following its approval, which is a longer term than most permits in the state.  

Columbus City, Ohio

Enacts New Airbnb Laws in the Wake of Community Pressure 

Columbus, Ohio residents are starting to get annoyed with the large number of hosts that don’t properly care for and operate their rental business, prompting the City Council to enact new Airbnb Laws.  Cathy Collins, support services administrator for the Department of Public Safety, said the  biggest complaints her office gets are for big and loud parties, loud music or occupants, confrontations from guests, and parking and trash issues.  So with the rise of complaints, the Columbus City Council has amended the Columbus City Code to better the enforcement of short-term rentals and cut down on problematic hosts and properties. 

In order to operate a short-term rental in Columbus, hosts are required to adhere to the following regulations: 

• A valid permit shall be required for each dwelling approved as a short-term rental. 
• A short-term rental host shall be either an owner or a permanent occupant. 
• A short-term rental host shall provide written notice to a short-term rental guest of any known, non-obvious, or concealed condition, whether human-made or artificial, which may present a danger to the short-term rental guest, and shall designate a local 24-hour emergency contact person for the short-term rental. 
• A short-term rental host must comply with RC 2933.52. Such compliance shall also include known, non-obvious or concealed surveillance equipment, including, but not limited to, digital video cameras/recorders/monitors, streaming video security cameras, audio recorders/monitors, or any other electronic means of secretly watching, listening, or recording. In the event a short-term rental host utilizes an indoor and/or outdoor interception device(s), or any specific or similar aforementioned device, the short-term rental host shall notify the short-term rental guest. In the event the short-term rental guest does not consent to the short-term rental host utilizing an indoor interception device(s), or any specific or similar aforementioned device, the short-term rental host shall immediately deactivate the indoor interception device(s) and shall not intercept, listen, monitor, record, or like thereof, any activity inside the short-term rental. 
• A short-term rental host shall comply with the city of Columbus’s short-term rental excise taxes as required by  Chapter 371. 
• A rental for thirty (30) or more consecutive days by the same person(s) is not subject to short-term rental regulations or short-term rental excise taxes. 
• No person or entity shall offer, list, advertise or market a dwelling with five guestrooms or less, located within the city of Columbus, on an entity’s website, for which such entity is compensated for facilitating or providing for a mechanism for a transaction, to rent or reserve the dwelling, in whole or in part, for less than thirty (30) days, to another person, without registering, listing, or accompanying a valid permit number, issued in accordance with this chapter and associated with the dwelling. 
• No entity, via the entity’s website, shall provide for or facilitate a mechanism for a transaction between an owner or permanent occupant and another person to rent or reserve, in whole or in part, a dwelling with five guestrooms or less, located within the city of Columbus, unless the owner or permanent occupant has registered or otherwise provided to the entity a valid permit number, issued in accordance with this chapter and associated with the dwelling.