Short-term rentals in Kennebunkport, explained properly.

Section 129-5 has applications go to the Code Enforcement Officer, who checks them for completeness and accuracy in the order received and may deny an incomplete or misleading application, one for a property that does not qualify, or one that misses the deadline. The applicant certifies compliance with the Sec. 129-7 standards on the application, and the Code Enforcement Officer inspects the licensed premises once every five years. Owners who operated a legally existing dwelling as a short-term rental before the chapter took effect had to apply by the advertised date with an affidavit and documents showing at least 14 total days of rental in a calendar year in 2019, 2020 or 2021, and those licenses were issued without a prior inspection. A person aggrieved by a denial may appeal to the Selectboard within 30 days, and then to Superior Court under Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80B within 30 days of the Selectboard's decision.

Section 129-6 requires the street address and map/block/lot number; the owner's name, address and telephone number and, if the owner is not a natural person, the name of each individual with an ownership interest (including trust beneficiaries and LLC members or shareholders); contact details for anyone other than the owner acting as local contact person; a renewal certification that the licensee has not engaged in any transfer that is not a permitted transfer; and all information needed to show compliance with the standards. The property owner stays responsible for compliance with the chapter whoever signs the rental agreement or is named as contact.

Section 129-7A requires smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area near the bedrooms, and on each additional story including basements and habitable attics; a carbon monoxide alarm outside each bedroom in the immediate vicinity if the house has an attached garage or a fuel-fired appliance; and at least one portable fire extinguisher mounted in a prominent location (one size/type 2/A or two size/type 1/A). The applicant provides floor plans showing the alarms and extinguishers (Sec. 129-7B) and shows adequate sanitary waste disposal under the Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules or public sewer; for septic systems every two tenants count as one bedroom, and the tenant count used cannot be lower than the number the property is advertised to sleep (Sec. 129-7C).

Section 129-7F sets the maximum tenant occupancy at two tenants per bedroom plus two additional tenants total for the dwelling unit, and gives a three-bedroom home as the example, with a maximum of eight tenants. Failure to comply with the occupancy limits is a listed violation that can lead to conditions, suspension or revocation (Sec. 129-8A(4)).

Section 129-7D has the applicant depict the parking spaces provided for tenants and guests on the same lot. Guest parking must be in the designated spaces, the number of guest vehicles is limited to the number of designated on-site spaces, garage spaces not allowed for tenant use do not count toward the requirement, and guests may not park in a way that impedes emergency vehicle access to the property or any other dwelling in the neighborhood. Failing to comply with the parking provisions is a listed violation (Sec. 129-8A(3)).

Section 129-4C makes it unlawful to advertise occupancy or use of a short-term rental that has not been licensed, requires advertising to be consistent with the license terms, and requires all advertisements to include the current short-term rental license number. Licensed rentals in good standing may advertise beyond the current licensing year. Failure to display or advertise the license number is a listed violation (Sec. 129-8A(5)).

Section 129-4E requires the license holder to post in plain sight near the entrance (it may be inside the rental) a notice with the license number and the name, address, phone number(s) and email address of the owner and/or the owner's local contact person, and to post the license provided by the Town. Section 129-4D requires the owner to keep accurate records of all rental transactions, including the number of tenants, length of stays and upcoming reservations, and to present them to Town inspection officials on request; failing to provide them within five business days of a Town request is a violation.

Section 129-8 lets the Board of Selectmen condition, suspend or revoke a license after a public hearing. Listed violations include false or misleading application information, failing to provide records within five business days, breaking the parking or occupancy rules, failing to display the license number or include it in advertising, breaking a license condition, and violating any other law applicable to the property. The Code Enforcement Officer keeps a log of substantiated complaints and reports to the Board when their nature or number warrants review. A person aggrieved may appeal to Superior Court under Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80B within 30 days of the Board's decision.

Section 129-10 says that when the owner or the owner's guests violate the chapter or license terms, the Town may, in addition to suspension or revocation, bar the owner from licensing the dwelling unit for 12 months after the current license expires. Violations are also subject to fines and penalties set in that section and in a penalty schedule established by the Board of Selectmen, and the Town may bring legal or equitable actions, seek injunctive relief, and recover its enforcement costs including reasonable attorneys' fees. The penalty schedule hasn't been reviewed yet, so the fine amounts are not covered here.

36 M.R.S. § 1811(1)(D)(3) sets the rate at nine percent on the value of rental of living quarters in any hotel, rooming house or tourist or trailer camp for sales on or after October 1, 2019, and the Maine Revenue Services rates table shows Rentals of Lodging at 9% in each column from 10/01/2019 through the column effective 01/01/2026. Maine Revenue Services Instructional Bulletin No. 32 says it uses "hotel" to include a cottage, camp, condominium unit and vacation home, that the tax applies to casual rentals, and that every person who owns, manages or operates such a property in the regular course of business or on a casual basis, or who collects rental payments for the owner, must register for and collect the tax. The bulletin also says that in most cases a person with one rental unit who rents it fewer than 15 days in a calendar year is not a retailer, and that rent charged for 28 or more continuous days is exempt in listed cases (primary residence, education or employment, employer-rented). The copy of the bulletin saved here was last revised November 1, 2017 and a newer revision was not found, so the exemptions are given as that bulletin states them and are marked for review. Local lodging taxes and the treatment of booking platforms were not read for this layer.

22 M.R.S. § 2501 (exceptions to the lodging-place license) says private homes are not deemed lodging places subject to a license when not more than 5 rooms are let; such homes must post in a visible location in each rented room a card, in text of no less than 18-point boldface type, reading "This lodging place is not regulated by the State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention," and must give guests the same notice at check-in. The section adds that a license is not required from vacation rentals, and that rooms and cottages are not deemed lodging places subject to a license where not more than 3 rooms and cottages are let. The section does not define "vacation rentals" and the definitions in the chapter were not read, so how it applies to a particular property is for review. Town registration, zoning and fire-safety rules are separate (see each place's page).