Owners of rental units and Airbnbs in Pittsburgh will need to go through a permitting and inspection process after City Council on Tuesday approved legislation that aims to regulate such properties.
People who own long- or short-term rental units will need to apply for a permit annually. They will need to provide information including the street address of each rental unit, the number of units within each property, their name and contact information, a copy of their identification and a copy of an occupancy permit for properties that require one.
Officials have not yet set a fee for the permit.
City officials will inspect units once every three years.
David Green, acting director of the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections, said the program will likely roll out early next year.
The legislation includes an exception for dormitories, and an amendment unanimously approved Tuesday also explicitly exempts hotels, motels, nursing homes and other properties subject to permitting and inspection by the county health department.
This comes after city officials have been blocked from creating a rental registry by Pennsylvania courts. The most recent iteration of the city’s rental registry ordinance was struck down by Commonwealth Court because it required “inspection without permission of an owner and lessee” and other requirements. It also would have published registration and inspection information on a public database.
A prior rental registration bill was struck down in court because of a lawsuit that challenged associated fees.
The bill approved Tuesday — sponsored by Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side — aimed to incorporate elements of the rental registry concept with his effort to regulate Airbnbs. His legislation to regulate Airbnbs after a fatal shooting at an Airbnb in the city’s North Side was put on pause for more than a year as the city faced legal challenges surrounding the rental registry program.
Wilson scrapped that bill and replaced it with the legislation approved Tuesday.
The councilman has said he believes the new legislation addressed the issues that were brought up in prior legal battles and would withstand court challenges.
Council approved the legislation in an 8-0 vote. Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, was not present for the vote.
Related:
• For rental properties and Airbnbs in Pittsburgh, inspections and permits soon could be required
• Pittsburgh rental registration ordinance struck down by court
Julia Felton is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Julia by email at jfelton@triblive.com or via Twitter .