Short-term rentals in Monroeville, explained properly.

Sec. 5-163(7) requires approval from the City's fire official for the first year of operation and a signed affidavit of continuing safety regulations each year after, with each unit inspected every three years. Sec. 5-165 requires at least one fire extinguisher in the kitchen area, mounted, visible and accessible (a second may be required if spacing is further than 75 feet of travel distance), each with a current service tag from a licensed fire extinguisher contractor. All sleeping rooms need smoke alarms installed under applicable codes, with a record of battery replacement available to the fire department; smoke detectors go in the hallway adjacent to sleeping rooms; carbon monoxide alarms are installed under applicable codes; and each rental must be maintained under the building-related and technical codes the City has adopted.

Sec. 5-163(3) requires the application to name a local contact person, with a telephone number reachable 24 hours a day, who will respond to complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of occupants. Sec. 5-166(c) requires the operator to make available a local 24-hour phone number and an alternate emergency number that can produce a response within a reasonable timeframe; failure of the operator, an employee or an agent to respond to the complainant within a reasonable timeframe is a violation. Sec. 5-166(d) requires a placard on the interior of each unit listing the information set forth in the article.

Sec. 5-166 requires all occupant vehicles to be parked on site and not in the adjacent public right-of-way. The owner or operator must use reasonably prudent business practices so that occupants and guests do not create unreasonable noise or disturbances that violate the City's noise ordinance. Trash and refuse may not be left or stored in public view except in proper containers for collection under City ordinances, and the owner or manager must tell occupants about trash disposal procedures. Use of the unit is limited to activities incidental to its use for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.

Sec. 5-167 requires the operator to notify the City Clerk's Office of any change in property ownership or management, or any other material change in the information in the license application, permit(s) and the City's business license ordinance, within 15 days after the change. The revenue director may require a new application for a business license and new permit(s) if the changes warrant it.

Sec. 5-170 requires each operator to submit to the City of Monroeville Revenue Officer at City Hall an annual report that includes the number of bookings, listings and operators' information calculated per year, together with current year-to-date revenue collected from all short-term residential rentals through the hosting platform, separated by operator. The application also asks for a list of the hosting platforms the applicant proposes to use (Sec. 5-163(5)).

Sec. 5-169 authorizes officers of the police department, code enforcement and fire officials to enforce or assist in enforcing the article. Sec. 5-164 makes the operator responsible for complying with state, county and City ordinances related to disasters and for the safety of guests.

Sec. 5-168 lets the revenue officer refer a license to the City Council for revocation for the second or subsequent violation of the article regarding a unit within any 12-month period. Renewal of a license, or an application for a new license, 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 article. If a business license is revoked, all permits under that license are revoked at the same time.

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.