Short-term rentals in Youngtown, explained properly.

Every application, including a renewal application, must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee established by Town Council resolution not to exceed $250 (5.25.030(C)). The amount charged is set by that resolution, which was not available to read, so the current fee and its effective date are not confirmed and this rule is marked for review.

All permits are valid for one year from the date of issuance unless suspended or otherwise revoked. Unless the Town has received a new application with the required fees, it is unlawful to operate a vacation rental after the expiration date on the face of the permit (5.25.030(G)).

Section 5.25.030(I) says no permit shall be transferable either as to location or as to person.

The permit application must be signed by the applicant and contain, as a minimum: the physical address of the property; the name, address and telephone number of the owner (for an entity, its legal name and statutory agent); the name, address and telephone number of each designee, if any; the full name, address and 24-hour telephone number of the emergency point of contact; proof of a valid transaction privilege tax license; the owner's acknowledgment of an agreement to comply with all applicable laws, including that the owner and each designee is not a registered sex offender and has not been convicted of a felony that resulted in death or serious physical injury, or of a felony use of a deadly weapon within the past five years; an attestation of compliance with the neighbor notification required by the chapter; evidence of liability insurance of at least $500,000 in the aggregate (or that each rental transaction is provided through a platform with equal or greater primary liability coverage); evidence of registration with the Maricopa County Assessor's Office under A.R.S. 33-1902; and, for an individual applicant, proof of lawful presence in the United States under A.R.S. 1-502 and 41-1080. The chapter says this information is made publicly available (5.25.030(B)). The town manager or designee develops the forms and database (5.25.030(J)). The Town form itself was not available to read.

The Town must issue or deny the permit within seven business days after receiving a complete application, except that it may deny for any of these reasons: the applicant did not provide the required application information; did not pay the permit fee; provided false information; the owner or designee is a registered sex offender, has been convicted of a felony that resulted in death or serious physical injury, or has been convicted of a felony use of a deadly weapon within five years of applying; or, at the time of application, the owner has a suspended permit for the same rental, or one violation at the rental involving the serious offenses described in the chapter, or three violations of the chapter at the rental within 12 months (aesthetic, solid waste and vehicle parking violations that are not also a serious threat to public health and safety are not counted). The town manager or designee gives notice of a denial by mail or email, with notice of the right to appeal (5.25.030(D), (E)).

All applicants and permit holders must give prior written notice to the town manager or designee of any material change in the information submitted with an application or renewal, not less than 10 days before the change takes effect. The chapter treats all information required for an application as material, and a violation is a civil offense (5.25.030(F)). Changes to the emergency contact have their own 10-day notice rule under the emergency contact rule.

Before offering or renting a vacation rental for the first time, liability insurance appropriate to cover the rental in the aggregate of at least $500,000 must be provided by the owner or the online marketplace platform. Proof of coverage must be provided to the Town on the Town's request no later than five days before first offering or renting the rental. A violation is a civil offense and each day without the required insurance is a separate violation (5.25.090). The permit application asks for evidence of this coverage (5.25.030(B)(8)).

When requested by a law enforcement officer, the owner or the emergency point of contact named on the permit application must be on the premises, or available by phone or text, within 60 minutes (5.25.040(a)). Other complaints must be answered in person, by phone, email or text in a timely manner (5.25.040(b)); the chapter defines a timely manner as the timeframe required by public safety personnel, not to exceed 60 minutes for emergencies and 24 hours for non-emergency requests (5.25.020). Changes to the emergency contact information require written notice to the town manager at least 10 days before the change (5.25.040(c)). A violation is a civil offense, and an owner can face civil penalties of up to $1,000 for every 30 days the owner fails to give that notice, after 30 days' notice of violation (5.25.040(d), (e)).

Before offering a vacation rental for rent for the first time, the owner or designee must give written notice, in the form the Town requires, to each single-family residential property adjacent to the rental, directly across from it and diagonally across the street. The notice must include the Town permit number, the physical address of the rental, and the name, physical address, email address and 24-hour telephone number of the emergency point of contact (5.25.060(A)). Any change to that information requires additional notice not later than five days before the change (5.25.060(B)). The owner gives the Town an attestation of compliance with the application (5.25.060(C)), and a violation is a civil offense (5.25.060(D)).

The owner or the owner's designee is responsible for displaying the Town-issued permit number on each advertisement for the vacation rental (5.25.070(a)). A violation is a civil offense and each advertisement in violation is a separate violation (5.25.070(b)). The Arizona state layer on this page separately covers the TPT license number in advertising.

The owner must display the name, phone number and email address of the owner, designee and emergency point of contact in a conspicuous place in the vacation rental. A violation is a civil offense and each day the information is not displayed is a separate violation (5.25.080).

No sex offender may rent or occupy a vacation rental. Within 24 hours of every booking, a sex offender background check on each guest must be run by the owner or by the online lodging marketplace on which the rental is advertised. The owner shows compliance by keeping a full copy of each check for at least 12 months after the booking date and giving the copy to the Town on a police officer's request. A marketplace's failure to run the check does not relieve the owner of liability, and a violation is a civil offense (5.25.100).

A vacation rental must comply with federal, state and local laws, including laws on public health and safety, sanitation, solid waste, hazardous waste, tax privilege licensing, property tax registration, traffic control, pollution control, noise, property maintenance and nuisance abatement. No person may operate a vacation rental in violation of the chapter or other law, and the failure of a designee to comply does not relieve the owner of liability (5.25.050(A), (B), (F)).

Renting or offering to rent a vacation rental without a permit is prohibited (5.25.030(A)). A vacation rental that fails to apply within thirty days of the permit application being made available by the Town must immediately cease operations, and the Town may impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per month if the owner or designee fails to apply within thirty days of receiving written notice of violation. An online listing or advertisement that refers to the property's location in the Town is prima facie evidence that a vacation rental is operating in the Town (5.25.030(H); repeated in 5.25.120(C)). The date the Town made the application available was not read.

For a verified violation of the chapter, or a failure to do an act the chapter requires, at the same rental property within the same twelve-month period, the Town may impose a civil penalty of up to $500 or up to one night's advertised rent, whichever is greater, for the first violation; up to $1,000 or two nights' advertised rent, whichever is greater, for the second; and up to $3,500 or three nights' advertised rent, whichever is greater, for a third and any later violation. Violations arising from the same response to an incident count as one violation. These remedies are cumulative with the other penalties in the Town code (5.25.120(A), (B)). Separate civil penalties for late notice of contact changes are described under the emergency contact rule.

The Town may start an administrative process to suspend a vacation rental permit for up to twelve months after three verified violations of the chapter within twelve months, not counting a violation based on aesthetics, solid waste disposal or vehicle parking that is not also a serious threat to public health and safety. A single verified violation can also lead to suspension if it involves a felony at or near the rental by the owner or designee; a serious physical injury or wrongful death from the knowing, intentional or reckless conduct of the owner or designee; the owner or designee knowingly or intentionally housing a sex offender, allowing adult-oriented business, sexual or prostitution offenses, or operating a sober living home; or knowingly allowing a special event that needs a permit or license, or a retail, restaurant, banquet or similar use (5.25.110(A)). Separately, a felony act at a rental that results in death or actual or attempted serious physical injury is grounds for judicial relief suspending use of the property as a vacation rental for up to twelve months, which the town attorney can pursue in town court or another court of competent jurisdiction (5.25.140).

Anyone aggrieved by a decision to deny or refuse to issue a vacation rental permit, to suspend a permit, or to impose a penalty under the chapter may appeal by filing a written notice of appeal on a Town-approved form with the town manager no later than thirty days from the date of the decision letter. An appeal does not stay a permit suspension, and the appeal section does not apply to judicial actions under 5.25.140 or to penalties imposed by a court (5.25.130).

Applies to: Subject to change if state law is amended

A.R.S. § 9-500.39(A) bars Arizona cities and towns from prohibiting short-term rentals, and subsection (B) lists the only ways they may regulate them (health and safety rules, zoning and nuisance rules applied like other residential property, emergency contact, a local permit, neighbor notice, permit number in ads, insurance, and owner residency on some properties with an accessory dwelling unit). Permit caps and minimum-distance or spacing limits are not on that list, and the statute applies to cities of every size.

Short-term rental income (stays under 30 days) is subject to Arizona transaction privilege tax (TPT), so hosts need a TPT license from the Arizona Department of Revenue (a seasonal license can be chosen on AZTaxes.gov) and must include the TPT license number in any advertising for the rental. A city business license, where a city requires one, is separate from the TPT license.

Arizona's state transaction privilege tax rate on the transient lodging classification (A.R.S. § 42-5070) is 5.5%, set by A.R.S. § 42-5010(A)(2). County and city taxes are added on top and vary by location.

Hosts must file a TPT return for every period even if the property was not rented, filing a $0 return rather than skipping the filing.

Separately from tax licensing, every Arizona county requires residential rental properties to be registered with the County Assessor, and penalties can apply to rentals that are not registered. A.R.S. § 9-500.39(J) keeps this duty in place for short-term rental owners.