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Washington City considers tighter short‑term rental rules, local manager licensing and fines
Summary
Councilors and staff discussed requiring verified local points of contact or licensed property managers, adding transient-room‑tax proof to the code, and a stepped penalty (including $750/day) for noncompliant short‑term rental listings; staff will return with draft code amendments.
Washington City officials discussed proposed code changes on March 12 that would tighten enforcement of short‑term rental rules, require verifiable local contact information and allow new enforcement tools tied to state law. City Recorder Tera Pence said the draft would require owners or property managers to submit proof of transient room tax remittance and a verifiable address and phone number for a local contact or manager.
The changes respond to ongoing compliance problems city staff described, including listings that advertise occupancy far above the building code limit. “It is we are getting flooded with emails every day of links of units that are advertising for 15, 16, 30,” Pence said, adding the International Building Code limits unsprinklered units to 10 occupants. She…
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