Short-term rentals in Northport, explained properly.

Sec. 7.40 defines Short-Term Rental (STR) as the rental of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days per rental period. The regulations apply to short term rental of dwellings in residential districts only. The dwelling or portion thereof approved for short-term rental use may be rented for lodging use only.

The dwelling may not be rented to more than one guest party simultaneously. Occupancy is limited to the most restrictive of: no more than two persons per bedroom plus two persons, and no more than four persons per parking space. The Director determines the number of bedrooms and parking spaces and may inspect the dwelling to verify information submitted with the business license application. The owner must, by written agreement with the renter, limit overnight occupancy to the maximum occupancy approved with the business license.

Sec. 7.40.02(A) says the dwelling or portion thereof approved for short-term rental use may only be rented for lodging use. It may not be rented for weddings, concerts or similar events or used for such events during any short-term rental period.

Sec. 7.40.02(D) requires adequate off-street parking to accommodate all guest parking needs. Recreational vehicles, buses and trailers may not be stored on the street or forward of the front building line. Occupancy is also tied to parking spaces (four persons per parking space).

Sec. 7.40.02(E) requires the posted house rules to comply with Sec. 7.40.

Sec. 7.40.02(F) applies on notification that a renter or a renter's guest has violated any provision of Sec. 7.40 or any noise, garbage or other applicable provision of the City Code. The section must also be complied with together with all applicable City regulations (Sec. 7.40.02(C)).

Sec. 7.40.01 refers to applicable licensing and taxation requirements of the City without naming a rate. The City tax chapter was not read, so no City rate or combined total is shown here.

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.