Short-term rentals in Newport News, explained properly.

Sec. 45-517.1(c)(5) sets the fee at $150.00, payable to the department of planning when the certificate is issued. The code text read lists ordinance numbers 7807-22 and 7913-23 but shows no adoption or effective date, and the City's fee schedule was not read.

Under Sec. 45-517.1(c): (1) for a single-family or multiple-family dwelling unit, proof of the owner's permanent residence at the property (driver's license, voter registration card showing the address, or equivalent proof); for a multiple-family development, proof of ownership of the development plus authorizing documents if an entity owns it; (2) all real property taxes, nuisance charges, utility fees and other city charges that are liens on the property must be current; (3) proof of liability insurance; (4) a floor plan showing the number and location of bedrooms and the required safety equipment; (5) the $150 fee.

Sec. 45-517.1(c)(3) requires proof of liability insurance covering accidental injury to a guest on the property in an amount no less than 'thirty thousand dollars ($300,000.00)'. The words say $30,000 and the numerals say $300,000, so the amount is not settled by the text and this rule needs review.

Sec. 45-517.1(c)(5) makes the certificate valid for one year from the date of issuance and puts the responsibility for renewal before expiration on the owner, who submits updated information to the department of planning.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(1) applies to all short-term rental properties in the city: no more than two lodgers per bedroom, with the maximum number of overnight lodgers on any night no greater than six.

Sec. 45-517.1(a)(1)b applies to single-family and multiple-family dwelling units used by the owner as a primary residence. The rented unit and any rented bedrooms must be within the owner's main building and may not be in a detached accessory building.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(3) prohibits simultaneous rentals under separate contracts for short-term rentals in the city.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(2) requires not less than one off-street parking space for the dwelling unit, in addition to the number of spaces required for the property under the applicable zoning district regulations.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(4): the equipment and exit plan must be accessible to overnight lodgers at all times, and the plan must be posted inside the door of each bedroom showing the exit pathway to the nearest exit. Under (b)(5) each rented bedroom needs a closet, a window and a door separating it from other parts of the rental. Under (b)(7) the rental must comply with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code as determined by the building official.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(6) prohibits these gatherings at a short-term rental.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(13) requires the log so the zoning administrator can check that the rental is operated under the section. The retention period was not stated in the text read.

Sec. 45-517.1(b)(8) to (11) require the owner to comply with the pool provisions in article I of chapter 39 where there is a pool, the chapter 40 transient occupancy tax provisions, the chapter 19 solid waste, litter and recycling provisions, and the chapter 28 noise provisions. Chapters 19, 28, 39 and 40 were not read, so this page gives no tax rate or noise standard.

Under Sec. 45-517.1(c)(6) the zoning administrator may revoke the certificate for (a) three or more violations recorded by the city within a one-year period; (b) failure to comply with the regulations in the section; (c) refusal to cooperate with a complaint investigation, including refusing entry on reasonable advance notice as permitted under section 45-3501(a); or (d) delinquency in real estate taxes, nuisance charges, utility fees or other city charges on the property. An owner whose certificate is revoked cannot obtain one for two years.

Code of Virginia § 15.2-983 defines a short-term rental as a room or space offered for dwelling, sleeping or lodging for fewer than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge. Any locality may, by ordinance, set up a short-term rental registry and require operators to register every year. Registration is ministerial: the operator's name, the address of each property offered, and, if the operator is a lessee or sublessee, an attestation that the owner has given permission. A locality may charge a reasonable fee tied to the cost of the registry. People licensed by the Real Estate Board (or owners represented by a real estate licensee), time-share registrants, places licensed by the Department of Health and businesses licensed by the locality for rental or property management (such as hotels and bed and breakfasts) cannot be required to register. A registry ordinance may set a penalty of up to $500 per violation for offering an unregistered property, and may bar an operator from offering a property after repeated registry violations or after violations of state and local short-term rental laws on more than three occasions. No local ordinance may prohibit an operator from offering a property solely because the operator is a lessee or sublessee, if the owner has given permission; a locality may limit a lessee or sublessee to one short-term rental. No local ordinance enacted after December 31, 2023 may require a special exception, special use or conditional use permit for a short-term rental in a dwelling that the owner also legally occupies as a primary residence. Otherwise, localities keep their general land use and zoning authority over short-term rentals, and the statute does not override recorded covenants, condominium instruments or property owners' association declarations. The section was last amended in 2024 (Acts of Assembly 2024, chapters 700 and 792).

Virginia's retail sales tax applies to accommodations, which the Retail Sales and Use Tax Act defines to include short-term rentals as well as hotels, motels, inns and similar places. A taxable retail sale includes charges for accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days. The Department of Taxation says the tax applies to the total charge for the accommodation, and that fees charged by booking agents and other companies that handle reservations are also taxable; under the statute the room charge includes any fee retained for facilitating the sale.

The Virginia Department of Taxation lists the general sales tax rate by location: 7% in James City County, Williamsburg and York County; 6.3% in Charlotte County, Danville, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Henry County, Northampton County, Patrick County and Pittsylvania County; 6% in the Central Virginia region (Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Richmond City), Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia; and 5.3% everywhere else. The page lists different rates only for groceries and for aircraft, watercraft and motor vehicles. Rates are set by the locality where the sale is made. Local lodging or transient occupancy taxes charged by cities and counties are separate and are listed on each city page.

The Department of Taxation says the tax is collected by either the accommodations provider or the accommodations intermediary, depending on how the stay was booked. Online travel companies, travel agents and similar businesses that facilitate bookings are accommodations intermediaries. When a short-term rental is booked through an intermediary, the intermediary collects the tax on the total charge, including its own fees, and reports the sales tax on the entire transaction on its Virginia sales tax return.

When a reservation is made directly with the accommodations provider, the Department of Taxation says the provider collects the tax on the total charge for the lodging and reports it on its Virginia sales tax return. Sellers whose sales go through a marketplace facilitator's platform generally do not need to collect sales tax on those sales, but may still need to register to collect it on their own sales outside the platform; registering gives you a sales tax account number and a Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4).