Short-term rentals in Daphne, explained properly.

Sec. 13-352(c) makes the holder of the license the person primarily responsible for the operator obligations in Article XVI, whether or not that person owns the real property. Where the licensee is not the owner, the owner is secondarily responsible. Sec. 13-351 defines an operator as any person who owns, leases, controls, manages or operates a short-term residential rental unit or property.

Under Sec. 13-354 each application contains: (1) the name, signature, address and phone number of the owner; (2) the name, address and phone of any property manager or firm; (3) the name, address and 24-hour phone number of a local contact person who will respond to complaints; (4) the address of the unit; (5) a list of all hosting platforms the applicant proposes to use to market the rental; (6) an affidavit that there are no delinquent lodging tax liabilities or liens regarding the property; and (7) approval from the City's fire official for the first year, plus a signed affidavit of continuing safety regulations each year after that, with each unit inspected every three years. Sec. 13-351 defines a hosting platform as a person who, for a fee, provides an internet platform that facilitates the rental of a unit for an operator.

Sec. 13-358(d) requires the operator to make available a local 24-hour phone number that can produce a response within fifteen minutes to complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of occupants, and says failure of the operator or an employee or agent to respond to the complainant within fifteen minutes is a violation. Sec. 13-358(e) requires a placard inside each unit, in plain view whenever the unit is occupied, at least 8-1/2 by 11 inches, showing the full name and phone number of the contact in type at least 72 point or 1-1/2 inches high.

Sec. 13-357 requires an evacuation map and procedures in each guest room used for sleeping (at least 10 by 8 inches, with a you-are-here star, an arrow to the nearest exit and the location of fire extinguishers). At least one fire extinguisher must be in the kitchen (mounted, visible and accessible), in any garage (mounted no higher than 60 inches above the floor) and on each floor level, each with a current service tag from a licensed contractor. All sleeping rooms need smoke alarms installed under applicable codes, with a record of monthly testing and battery replacement available to the fire department. Carbon monoxide alarms are to be installed under applicable codes, and the unit must be maintained under the City's building-related and technical codes.

Sec. 13-358(b): all occupant vehicles must be parked on site and not in the adjacent public right-of-way, and no commercial vehicles are permitted on the property or in the adjacent right-of-way except where otherwise permitted in commercial zoning districts. Sec. 13-358(c): radios, stereos, instruments and sound amplifiers may be used only inside an enclosed unit, and the owner or operator must use reasonably prudent business practices so occupants do not create unreasonable noise or disturbances. Sec. 13-358(f): trash and refuse may not be left or stored in public view except in proper containers for collection, and the owner or manager must tell occupants about trash disposal procedures.

Sec. 13-358(g) says that, consistent with the definition, no unit may be rented for weddings, parties, receptions or similar events that are typically held at a banquet facility or other facility made available for events on a commercial basis. Use of the unit is limited to activities incidental to its use for dwelling, lodging or sleeping.

Sec. 13-358(a) requires the operator to post a copy of the permit in a conspicuous place within the short-term residential rental unit.

Sec. 13-359 requires the operator to notify the City of Daphne Revenue Department of any change in property ownership or management, or any other material change in the information in the license application, permits and Business License Ordinance, within fifteen days after the change. The revenue director may require a new application for a business license and new permits if the changes warrant it.

Sec. 13-356 requires the operator of a short-term residential rental to comply with all City of Daphne ordinances on collecting lodging taxes by the operator of an establishment subject to those ordinances, and the related recordkeeping. Sec. 13-354(6) requires an affidavit that there are no delinquent lodging tax liabilities or liens on the property. The City's lodging tax rate is in a different chapter that this page does not cover, so no City rate or combined total is shown. State lodging tax rules are on the Alabama layer above.

Sec. 13-355: in connection with issuing a business license (or renewing it), the revenue officer may impose reasonable conditions in addition to the chapter's requirements that are designed to protect public health, safety and welfare. At any time during a license period, the officer may impose such a condition on a licensee whose rental has been the subject of repeated complaints of violations of the chapter.

Sec. 13-360: the revenue officer may refer a license to the city council for revocation for the second or subsequent violation regarding a particular unit within any 12-month period, in addition to other remedies. Renewal of a license, or a new application, may be denied if the licensee or applicant has been found guilty of, or determined in a civil proceeding to be in violation of, any provision of the chapter. If a business license is revoked, all permits under it are revoked at the same time. Sec. 13-362 authorizes police department officers, code enforcement and fire officials to enforce the chapter. The fine amounts for violations are not in the article text we read.

Section 40-26-1 of the Code of Alabama levies a privilege or license tax on every person in the business of renting or furnishing rooms, lodging or accommodations to transients in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration. The rate is 5% of the charge in the 16 counties of the Alabama mountain lakes area (Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston) and 4% in every other county, and the charge includes any charge for personal property and services furnished in the room. The tax does not apply to rooms, lodgings or accommodations supplied for 180 continuous days or more. The Alabama Department of Revenue says lodgings tax is collected through an account at My Alabama Taxes, and that counties and cities may add their own lodgings taxes of between 1% and 13%, some collected by the Department, some by third-party administrators and some by the local government itself. Local lodgings taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 40-26-1.1 of the Code of Alabama (the Alabama Tourism Tax Protection Act of 2024, Act 2024-334) says an accommodations intermediary, meaning a business other than the owner that facilitates a lodging transaction and charges the guest a room or accommodations fee it keeps as compensation, must collect and remit the state lodgings tax and parallel local levies for transactions on or after January 1, 2025. The tax is charged on the room charge, the full retail price the guest pays including any fees. When the intermediary handles the booking for an accommodations provider (an owner with an active lodgings tax account who collects and remits the tax), the tax collected may be remitted to the provider if an executed written agreement says who remits it, and the intermediary is then not liable for tax the provider fails to remit. The intermediary must state the tax separately on the bill. Where the owner has hired a licensed professional property management company, that company is the merchant of record. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same rules. Which local lodgings taxes a platform collects in a given place is not stated in these sources; check with the platform and the local tax office.

Section 40-26-1.1(g) requires every accommodations intermediary and accommodations provider to submit an annual report, in a form set by the Department of Revenue, listing the physical address of each accommodation rented or furnished for more than 14 days during the previous year; the report is confidential taxpayer information. Exempt are licensed professional property management companies that collect and remit the state lodgings tax (or manage homes leased for a month or more as the tenant's principal residence), hotels that collect and remit the tax, tourism marketing organizations funded by the tax, and marina, tent camping and RV providers that collect and remit it. The Department of Revenue's notice describes the same reporting rule and exemptions.