Short-term rentals in Trussville, explained properly.

Sec. 18-227(c) says the name and telephone number of a local responsible party shall be conspicuously posted within the short-term rental property unit. The responsible party shall answer calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the duration of each short-term rental period to address problems or complaints associated with the property. Sec. 18-227(d) and (e) add that the rental shall comply with applicable City garbage and trash regulations and noise provisions.

Sec. 18-227(f) says that before a business license can be renewed for a short-term rental in any area outside of the Downtown Overlay district, the owner shall submit to an audit to determine the number of nights the owner has rented the premises. If the owner has not rented the premises within the keeping of the spirit of the article, the license shall not be renewed. The owner is responsible for all data and document retention required for compliance. A minimum number of nights is not shown here.

Sec. 18-231 lists the safety equipment for a single-family dwelling of fewer than three stories rented whole, and for any separate guesthouse: smoke and carbon monoxide detectors connected to a residential fire alarm, operable egress windows in sleeping areas, proper hand and guardrails, GFCI protection where required by the National Electrical Code, fire extinguishers, a properly displayed 9-1-1 address, emergency egress lighting and a Knox rapid entry system. An owner-occupied single-family dwelling, or one renting individual rooms to separate parties with fewer than five guest rooms, and owner-occupied bed and breakfast dwellings with five or fewer guest rooms, must also have a fire sprinkler system in conformance with the most recently adopted building code. Bed and breakfasts with more than five guest rooms, boarding houses and rentals in multi-family buildings must meet applicable building and fire codes.

Sec. 18-232 requires every premises to be inspected for compliance with the City building code before a short-term rental business license is issued or renewed. Before the first license, a rental in a single-family dwelling must be inspected by the fire marshal and a licensed home inspector (or another person approved by the chief building official), on the form set by the chief building official. Before renewal, an inspection report performed less than 24 months earlier must be on file with the revenue division, and the owner certifies before each renewal that nothing affecting the prior inspection has changed. Rentals in bed and breakfasts or multi-family buildings must be inspected by the City fire department and building inspector. The building inspector and fire marshal may assess one inspection fee not to exceed $100.00. The fee is set in the article as adopted by Ordinance 2023-005-ADM (4-25-23); a separate fee schedule was not read.

Sec. 18-233(a) makes a person or company eligible for a short-term rental business license only if they own the property covered or have a completed designation of agent form from the owner. Sec. 18-233(b) says any person or entity operating as a short-term rental manager must obtain a business license and be professionally licensed in compliance with Ala. Code section 34-27-30. Sec. 18-226 defines a short-term rental manager as a person or entity that arranges the rental, cleaning, listing, advertising or otherwise assists in operating a short-term rental for a profit, and excludes listing services or online platforms.

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.