Monday, December 1, 2008

Regulating Trinidad Vacation Rentals

At our last Planning Commission Meeting, a resident brought up the fact that she has several vacation rentals she manages herself and only one business license. This perplexed most of us. Since then, I've been talking to our City Manager and our Assistant Clerk about our licensing for Vacation Rentals. 

At the moment, seems to me it's should be like having dogs (property) and a dog walker (service). If I have three dogs, I need three licenses if I walk them myself. If I have three dogs and hire a dog walker, I need 3 licenses, and the dog walker needs 1 license for his business service. 

Folks'ism aside, each property that is not my personal residence would need a license, a business which manages my properties would need a license. If I'm managing my licensed properties, I do not need a separate business license. 

What do you think?

What if I have a room in my personal house that I rent out during the season like a Vacation Rental, do I need a license?

What do you think?

While I agree with Christine (see below) that the rental model for long term rentals is a good model for vacation rentals, vacation rentals have a substantially different impact and business model. Many residents believe they need different accountability. That being said, there is also the issue of having a non-personal residence be both a long-term rental in the off-season, and a vacation rental during the tourist season.

More comments please ...

2 comments:

  1. A rental management business is a single business no matter the number of rental homes involved.
    - Christine

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is incorrect. Vacation rentals are basically separate motels with one unit. Each separate vacation rental must have a business license. Who manages it is NOT the issue at all. Each business establishment with a different address requires a separate business license. Marilyn

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time to read and respond to my post. A quick sentence stating your opinion would be much appreciated - it's the reason I'm blogging, Mike

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.