The Portland Tribune posted the following article and in it the author outlines the lawsuit with HomeAway and the resulting outcome with the City of Portland. 

These changes will affect so many short term rental hosts in Portland, and hopefully the City will allow a grace period for hosts to get their permitting in place. Big decisions like this seem to move slowly but there's talk of the change happening at the beginning of summer, right at the start of high season here! 

The standard one and two bedroom homeowners shouldn't have much problem getting permitted, but homeowners with three bedrooms or more are going to find themselves potentially kicked off the platforms and scrambling to find solutions. 

The following is an excerpt from the Tribune article. You can find the full article in the link included.  ~ M.W. 

City tries new softer approach to regulate short-term rental companies

Steve Law

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Portland poised to drop mandatory home inspections, allow companies to register own hosts, in exchange for divulging host names, whereabouts.

Portland city officials are shifting to a lighter approach to regulating the notoriously slippery short-term rental industry, starting with a lawsuit settlement reached last week with Austin, Texas-based HomeAway.

The city essentially is conceding that its mandatory home inspection requirement isn't working, since at least 80 percent of Portland's 4,500 short-term rental hosts — and the companies that list their properties — have ignored city requirements for hosts to get permits before renting out spare rooms to travelers.

In the deal with HomeAway, the city agreed to let the company register its Portland hosts online, if the hosts agree they're meeting city safety requirements, such as smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rooms and proper exit avenues in case of fire. In exchange, HomeAway agreed to divulge all the names, addresses and contact information of its local hosts. The city retains the right to inspect homes of those hosts in some fashion, but will no longer make that a requirement before allowing them to start renting out rooms via HomeAway.

HomeAway agreed to pay a modest $275,000 to settle three lawsuits with the city, a far cry from the $2.5 million the city initially sought. But HomeAway agreed to start collecting a 13.5 percent lodging tax from its local hosts or guests, which the city says is one of a handful of times the company has agreed to do so in the United States.

"We are in active discussions with the city of Portland about setting up a registration system that would allow hosts to apply for a permit directly from the Airbnb platform and give the city the information it needs to enforce the law. We remain committed to working with the city on a comprehensive solution that increases permitting compliance and allows our hosts to continue sharing their homes to make ends meet," Rillos stated in an email.

Under the HomeAway agreement, Portland would become one of a handful of cities where short-term rental companies have agreed to divulge who their local hosts are.

"Right now, we literally have no idea where all of the short-term rentals are in the city," said Marshall Runkel, chief of staff to city Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. She oversees the Bureau of Development Services, which handles inspections and issues permits.

In San Francisco, where Airbnb is based, the city recently allowed Airbnb to register hosts online, but the company finally agreed to divulge data about hosts in that city. Hosts who refuse to meet the city's requirements are taken off the Airbnb platform.

Since then, Airbnb says it has taken 4,780 listings off its website for San Francisco, leaving some 6,300 active listings.

Lannom predicts a similar pattern if Airbnb agrees to the new system here. He reasons that hundreds of hosts here don't want to share their data with the city for various reasons, such as their failure to meet basic safety requirements, or a resistance to allow inspectors into their homes.

There are now 4,000 to 5,000 short-term rental listings in Portland, Lannom estimates. "Once this thing goes live, you might see that number drop down to 3,000 or maybe 2,500."