Short-term rentals in Fultondale, explained properly.

A permit is not issued until the applicant provides proof of either a commercial insurance policy covering short-term rentals at the permitted address, or a homeowner's policy rider that expressly covers short-term rentals, each with a minimum of $1,000,000.00 liability and personal injury coverage (Sec. 26-178(a)). The policies must name the city, its officers and employees as additional insured and provide that the policy will not terminate or be cancelled before the end of the permit period without 45 days written notice to the city (Sec. 26-178(b)). Failure to maintain the coverage results in immediate suspension or revocation of the permit without further notice (Sec. 26-178(c)).

Each person, company or entity owning or operating a short-term rental unit must assign or have available a local responsible party to answer calls, correct problems or address complaints 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the duration of each short-term rental period. The name and contact information, including a phone number, must be posted conspicuously in each short-term rental unit (Sec. 26-175(c)).

Sec. 26-175(d) requires every short-term rental unit to be provided with refuse and garbage service through the city.

Every short-term rental unit must meet applicable building codes and the safety standards in Sec. 26-179, and building and fire code compliance is required before a permit is issued. A unit of fewer than three stories must have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors meeting the life safety and building codes the city has adopted; operable egress windows in sleeping areas; proper hand and guardrails; GFCI/arc-fault protection where the adopted National Electrical Code requires it; fire extinguishers in accessible areas of the kitchen, any garage and the laundry room; a properly displayed 9-1-1 address on the structure and mailbox; and emergency egress lighting.

Anyone operating, leasing, renting, managing, advertising or offering a short-term rental unit for rent, or otherwise acting as an agent for a fee or commission, must provide a completed city designation of agent form from the owner (Sec. 26-180(a)), must obtain a city business license to act in that capacity, and must be properly licensed under state real estate licensure laws (Sec. 26-180(b)).

Any violation of Article VI incurs the fine schedule in Sec. 26-181(a), in addition to all other penalties under state law or city ordinances: $100.00 for a first offense, $200.00 for a second, $300.00 for a third and $500.00 for a fourth. A violation may also result in revocation of the short-term rental unit permit and any business license issued by the city (Sec. 26-181(b)).

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.