Duluth City Council to Regulate Homeshares and Vacation Rentals

The Duluth City Council wants to regulate the boom of homeshares and vacation rentals.

Tourist season is almost upon us and whether those visitors stay in traditional hotels or in short term vacation rentals is still up in the air.

Homeshares are rentals where everyday people open their homes for short term rent.

They have become more and more popular due to websites like Airbnb.

The Duluth city council is still debating options on how to regulate the rentals.

The council put a twelve month moratorium on new rentals which is set to expire in July.

They proposed an ordinance which makes a clear distinction between homeshears and vacation rental properties.

“One of the reasons we’re making this distinction is so we can move quickly and have a very simple and straight forward process so the dozens of homeowners and renters who want to participate can do so relatively easily,” said Duluth City Councilor Joel Sipress.

The earliest the council could vote on the new ordinances would be in two weeks.