The future of short-term home rentals are in limbo in Nashville. A court ruling last week has drawn opposing interpretations: Are there now no restrictions for Airbnbs, or are they essentially banned?
The city likely will have to rewrite its regulations. The judge’s ruling struck down Metro’s regulations for their vagueness. But the judge did not find the
deeper problems that were alleged by the couple that sued the city. The couple was denied a permit to rent their home in the Germantown neighborhood, where a permit quota had been reached.
This case has been closely watched because in some neighborhoods, there are large concentrations of rooms or entire homes being rented many nights a week.
In the meantime, amid some dramatic legal arguments, Metro Codes is still taking permit applications — 18 so far this week.
The ruling hasn’t exactly re-ignited demand to get them, said Codes Administrator Bill Herbert.
“Surprisingly, we’ve had little attention,” Herbert said.
He recalls a different feel in summer 2015, when Nashville first created a permitting process for short-term rentals.
“When the ordinance first came into effect, we had lots of folks coming in, everybody trying to get a permit, all at once,” he said. “Now, not so much.”
Herbert said there could be a permit hiatus while the rules are updated — although even that is unclear, pending more possible legal action.
Observers
have traded barbs online, but Herbert anticipates a relatively simple reworking of the ordinance.
Unlike the state’s free-market think tank, he does not anticipate a dramatic loosening of rental regulations. Nor does he side with some Metro Council members who have suggested that the ruling effectively outlaws Airbnbs and vacation rentals.
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