Regulating and insuring short-term rentals

What it means

This bill extends the state room occupancy tax and local hotel taxes to short-term rentals, such as apartments, houses and condominiums reserved in advance, starting with stays beginning on or after January 1, 2019 under contracts made on or after November 1, 2018. Cities and towns may also charge a community impact fee of up to 3 per cent on professionally managed units (and, by separate vote, on units in 2- and 3-family homes where the owner lives), with at least 35 per cent going to affordable housing or local infrastructure. It adds a 2.75 per cent tax on stays in member towns of a new Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund, creates a public state registry of operators, and lets cities and towns regulate, license or limit short-term rentals. Operators must carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance, unless the rental is offered through a hosting platform with equal or greater coverage, effective January 1, 2019.

Source: official text and history of H.4841 on malegislature.gov. This describes the bill text posted there; amendments may have changed the version that was voted on.