Short-term rentals in Fort Payne, explained properly.

Sec. 44-723(b) requires the inspection before any licensing or rental use of the STR unit. Sec. 44-723(h) says the number of bedrooms is determined by the city building official as part of the STR permit application process, and that the building official may inspect the dwelling to verify information submitted with the application.

Sec. 44-723(d) requires the owner to give the name, address and telephone number of an emergency contact with the STR permit application. The contact must respond within one hour to complaints about the condition or operation of the STR or the conduct of renters or their guests, must be able to respond on-site within 12 hours if requested by the city, and must answer calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the duration of each short-term rental period. Before any change of contact, the owner must submit the revised information to the city building official.

Sec. 44-723(f) requires all STR owners to obtain and maintain vacation rental property insurance that covers the lodging use of the site. Proof of insurance must be provided within 30 days of the issuance of the STR permit and resubmitted each year for renewal of the permit.

Sec. 44-723(g) says the dwelling may not be rented to more than one party simultaneously and limits occupancy to no more than two persons plus two persons per bedroom. To count as a bedroom, a room must meet the minimum requirements of the International Building Code adopted by the city. The city building official determines the number of bedrooms during the permit application (Sec. 44-723(h)). Sec. 44-723(i) requires the owner, by written agreement with the renter, to limit overnight occupancy to the maximum occupancy approved with the STR permit.

Sec. 44-723(e) says the STR may only be rented for lodging use and may not be rented for weddings, parties, concerts or similar events or used for such events during any short-term rental period.

Sec. 44-723(j) says no on-premises signage legible from any right-of-way may advertise the STR, and that the owner may have a sign no larger than four square feet which displays the address and property name only.

Sec. 44-723(l) requires adequate off-street parking to accommodate all occupants' parking needs and says all occupant vehicles must park off the street and on the STR property. No recreational vehicles, buses, boats or trailers may be stored on the street or forward of the front property line of the STR property. Sec. 44-723(s) defines vehicles as cars, trucks, motorcycles and off-road vehicles. These standards apply to short-term rentals under Article XI.

Sec. 44-723(m) says no food may be prepared or served to rental occupants by the STR property owner.

Sec. 44-723(n) requires the posting. Under Sec. 44-723(o), when notified that a renter or guest has violated the article or any noise, garbage or other city rule, the owner or emergency contact must promptly notify the renter and take the action needed to prevent a recurrence. Sec. 44-723(k) requires the owner and all occupants to comply with all applicable city ordinances, including building construction, fire safety, noise, and garbage collection and disposal.

Sec. 44-723(p) requires each owner, upon issuance of an STR permit or upon changes to an existing permit, to give written notice to all owners of residentially zoned property who own property adjacent to the STR property. The notice must include (1) the names and telephone numbers of the owner and the emergency contact if not the owner, (2) the city telephone number for reporting violations, and (3) the maximum number of renters permitted in the unit. The permit application must include the name and address of all property owners who own residential property adjacent to the STR property.

Sec. 44-723(r) makes the property owner responsible for paying an additional rate set by the city for any garbage containers exceeding one 95-gallon container. All garbage containers must be stored off the street on the days not scheduled for garbage pickup by the city. The additional rate is set outside Article XI.

Sec. 44-722(g) covers current short-term rentals located in the R-1 District and in operation before the adoption of Ordinance 2024-08 (adopted November 19, 2024). Owners of these rentals had until June 30, 2025 to meet the requirements: pass all required inspections of the fire marshal and the city building inspector, obtain the proper licensing and registration, and provide proof of lodging taxes paid prior. A rental that does so is granted a conditional use by the zoning administrator until the short-term rental is sold or transferred to a new owner. New R-1 rentals are covered by the conditional-use variance route in Sec. 44-722(a).

Sec. 44-724 says the city notifies the owner in writing of the provisions violated, the corrective action and a compliance due date, and uses best efforts to phone the owner or emergency contact; violations by renters count as violations by the property owner. The city may issue a warning at its discretion to a person not previously warned or cited. For a first violation, a person who violates the provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punished by a fine of not less than $1.00 nor more than $500.00, or may be imprisoned or sentenced to hard labor for the city for a period not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court; each day of a violation is a separate offense. Where building, fire safety, property maintenance, noise, occupancy, parking, trespass or other violations occur more than once in the same license year or within any six-month period, or a conviction has been issued against the owner, any second or subsequent violation is subject to a fine of up to $500.00 for each subsequent violation and revocation of the STR permit. A person who disagrees with the municipal court's decision may appeal to the Circuit Court of Dekalb County, Alabama.

Sec. 44-724(3) lets the city temporarily suspend the STR permit if a violation of building, fire safety or property maintenance regulations has not been corrected by the compliance date. When a first-time violation has been corrected, the permit is reinstated for the remainder of its current approval period. The city may approve an extension of the compliance date if substantial progress toward compliance has been made, provided the public will not be adversely affected. Sec. 44-724(4) provides for revocation of the permit on a second or subsequent violation where violations recur in the same license year or within any six-month period, or after a conviction against the owner.

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.