Short-term rentals in Scottsboro, explained properly.

The permit application must give the emergency contact's name, primary physical mailing address, cell phone number and email address (Sec. 22-360(1)c.3). The contact may be the owner or the owner's agent. The permit itself must show the owner's contact information for guests and neighbors, who must be available at any time to respond to on-premises complaints (Sec. 22-360(1)e.1.iii).

Sec. 22-360(1)d.4 requires a certificate of insurance showing either a homeowner's policy rider that expressly covers short-term rentals, or a commercial policy covering short-term rentals at the permitted address, each with a minimum of $1,000,000.00 of liability and personal injury coverage. The insurance must indicate that the policy will not terminate or be cancelled before the end of the current permit period without 30-day written notice to the City of Scottsboro, Attn: City Clerk, 316 South Broad Street, Scottsboro, Alabama 35768.

Under Sec. 22-360(1)c.4 the applicant swears that the dwelling unit has code-compliant smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms (as required by the most currently adopted International Fire Code and International Building Code, and as the fire marshal or building inspections department decides); has posted emergency contact information and a diagram or floor plan showing fire exits and escape routes in a prominent location; complies with the city's minimum property maintenance, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes; sits on property that complies with the zoning ordinance; that the owner has made best efforts to notify the immediately adjacent properties of the application; and that the property has no outstanding taxes or municipal code violations. All requirements must be continuously maintained for the permit period (Sec. 22-360(1)f.).

This is one of the items in the sworn statement attached to the permit application (Sec. 22-360(1)c.4.v). The form and timing of the notice are not shown here.

Sec. 22-361 says no dwelling unit used for short-term rentals may exceed the maximum guest occupancy of two persons per bedroom or such other occupancy number as determined by the fire marshal.

Sec. 22-361 requires one parking space per bedroom at each dwelling unit for use by the short-term rental, subject to the limitations of parking availability within the subject property. Transients must park all vehicles within designated parking areas of the property, which are limited to the driveway, garage or carport. Overnight street parking by transients is strictly prohibited.

Sec. 22-363 makes each act of violation, and each day a violation continues, a separate offense. The building official issues a written notice of violation by first class mail or hand delivery that identifies the violation, orders the correction and sets a time to comply. If the violation is not sufficiently corrected in the building official's opinion within that time, a citation or notice to appear may be issued to municipal court, which may impose a fine or imprisonment or both under the Code. Sec. 22-364 makes any violation a public nuisance per se and lets the city seek an injunction or abatement in court. The amount of the fine is not shown in Article XIII; the general penalty section of the Code hasn't been reviewed yet. The Code's adopting Ordinance 598 sets a general penalty of up to $500.00 or up to six months in jail, or both, unless another penalty is expressly provided.

Sec. 22-362: if three valid and substantiated complaints are received by city police within a 12-month period, the building inspections department suspends the permit for no less than six months. A second suspension within two consecutive years lasts no less than 12 months. A third suspension within three consecutive years revokes the permit permanently. The owner may appeal to the city council by written notice to the city clerk within seven days of the suspension or revocation, and the appeal is heard no later than 30 days later at the next regularly scheduled council meeting. Separately, fraud, misrepresentation or false statements in the attestations, documents or application are grounds for immediate revocation by the city council (Sec. 22-360(1)f.).

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.