Short-term rentals in Delaware, explained properly.

Once the Director finds an application complete, it is forwarded to the Planning and Community Development Code Enforcement Division and the Fire Department to schedule an inspection for compliance with all City codes. After the site inspection is passed, the applicant pays all fees as determined by City Council. The chapter refers to a fee schedule but the fee amount and the schedule's date are not shown in the text reviewed, so no fee figure is given here.

Short-term rental registration permits are in effect for one calendar year from the date of issuance through December 31 of the same year, and all permits expire on December 31 regardless of the date received (Sec. 1133.04(b)). Applicants must re-apply each year they intend to operate and pay the fees set in the fee schedule (Sec. 1133.04(b)(1)).

Section 1133.03(c) allows a maximum of one short-term rental registration per fee simple lot. A hosted registration lets the owner host multiple short-term tenants at the same time in separate rooms; a non-hosted registration allows the rental of a full dwelling unit to one short-term tenant or group. Each individual, household or commercial entity may register a maximum of one hosted and one non-hosted short-term rental.

For hosted short-term rentals, Section 1133.03(c)(1) requires a permanent resident host on site pursuant to the definition of "hosted short term rental" and lets the owner host multiple short-term tenants at once in separate rooms. The definition itself is in a part of the Code we haven't reviewed. A non-hosted short-term rental is the rental of a full dwelling unit to one short-term tenant or group (Sec. 1133.03(c)(2)).

Section 1133.03(d) sets parking in two parts. In the C-DC Zoning District, no additional off-street parking is required. In zoning districts where single- and two-family dwelling units are permitted, no additional off-street parking is required where on-street parking is available within one block; where it is not available within one block, the short-term rental must provide one additional off-street parking space for every two possible separate tenants, which may include space on an existing driveway.

Under Section 1133.03(e), the appearance of the structure may not be altered as a result of the short-term rental other than for one sign, not more than two square feet in area, non-illuminated and mounted flat against the wall of the principal building.

Section 1133.03(f) requires every short-term rental host to provide tenants with a current version of the City of Delaware Short-Term Rental Guidelines packet, as provided by the Department of Planning and Community Development, and to include the current registration number in all listings of the rental.

Section 1133.04(c) provides two grounds. A short-term rental found operating without first registering must cease operations until a registration application has been filed, accepted (including the required inspection) and paid in full. A short-term rental with three violations of any City Code or Ordinance within one registration year must cease operations and its registration is revoked for the remainder of the registration period; the applicant may re-apply the following year if it has come into compliance with all City Codes and Ordinances. Fine amounts and other penalties are not shown in the chapter reviewed.

The Department of Taxation's taxability guide lists hotel room rentals as taxable for stays under 30 days in facilities with 5 or more sleeping rooms. Its information release on bed and breakfasts quotes the Ohio Revised Code definition of a hotel (an establishment where sleeping accommodations are offered to guests and five or more rooms are used for guests, in one or several structures) and of transient guests (stays of less than thirty consecutive days), and says a bed and breakfast with fewer than five rooms available to transient guests is not a hotel and does not have to charge the tax on the room; food served on the premises is still taxed unless room and meal charges are separated. The Department gives the state sales tax rate as 5.75 percent. The information release dates from 1995 and cites older letters of R.C. 5739.01; the current text of the Revised Code could not be read for this page. How a whole-home short-term rental counts its rooms is not addressed by the sources read; check with the Department of Taxation. City and county lodging taxes are shown on each place's page.

Since September 1, 2019, a marketplace facilitator that meets substantial nexus in Ohio is treated as the seller for the sales it facilitates and must collect and pay Ohio sales tax on them. The Department of Taxation says that, to count as facilitating a sale, the marketplace must be selling a taxable good or service used or received in Ohio, and that this excludes lodging by a hotel. The Department pages read do not say whether booking platforms collect state sales tax on stays at short-term rentals that are hotels (five or more rooms); check with the platform and the Department. City rules on platform collection of city lodging taxes are shown on each place's page.