Editor’s note: This commentary is by Darren Drevik, who is the co-owner of a bed & breakfast in Montgomery, and lists his property on several short-term rental websites.
[B]ryan Stascavage’s defense in his commentary of short-term rentals in Vermont is a strong statement for what has become a major industry in the state. But in attempting to respond to “factual and analytical inaccuracies” in a recent complaint about the industry by Julia Cook, he injects quite a few inaccuracies of his own.
He starts out by conceding one of the challenges state inspectors face with short-term rentals: That many of the property owners are absentee landlords, living out of state. While he notes that he provides his renters with safety instructions, he misleadingly claims “all my colleagues do the same.” They do not, and with short-term rentals uninspected, it’s impossible to ascribe any safety efforts to any of the short-term rentals in Vermont. And therein lies one of the major dangers that this fast-growing business represents.
The Vermont brand is a major economic driver for tourism. It’s a brand that has built for decades on the back of traditional hospitality businesses, including hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts across the state that collect meals and rooms taxes. Stascavage misleadingly claims that “all STR properties pay the rooms and meals tax.” That is patently untrue. There are at least 15 in my town that have boasted that they have been able to avoid paying any room taxes for their rentals. Until last year, there was no way the state could collect these taxes from any under-the-radar unlicensed rentals. Even the agreement signed between Airbnb and the Vermont Department of Taxes last year is fatally flawed: The state has given away its power to audit what Airbnb claims it owes, and rentals through other platforms such as VRBO, HomeAway and others still can cheat Vermont taxpayers because of the ineffective “honor system.”
In trying to avoid accountability for the health and safety of Vermont visitors, Stascavage invokes “low density” as a reason short-term rentals shouldn’t be inspected and required to provide Vermont visitors a safe place to stay, with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire safety certification and health checkoffs. “There is no equivalency between a hotel and a home,” claims Stascavage. Given the rising number of Airbnb fatalities worldwide, I assure you when the first Vermont tourist loses their life in an uninspected Airbnb, “low density” or false claims of “no equivalency” will be of no comfort to them. Nor will it protect the Vermont brand from the inevitable bad publicity and damage. Hotels and family-owned inns aren’t demanding a level playing field on regulations to drive short-term rentals out of business — they’re demanding it because they don’t want to see their historic investment in the Vermont brand destroyed by those who have taken a free ride and are willing to jeopardize it for quick bucks.
Cook’s call for regulation, licensing and inspections won’t drive travelers away from Vermont as Stascavage claims. In contrast, knowing that our private homes, cabins, inns, B&Bs, and hotels are all inspected for safety will be a major point of differentiation that will make Vermont even more enticing.
Unaddressed are the issues of how the growth of short-term rentals has decimated affordable housing in the state, and how they do damage to many residential communities when “bad apple” guests settle in. Short-term rentals are becoming a major problem in many communities, and zoning boards are having to step in because the Vermont Legislature has abdicated its duty to deal with the problem.
I see this issue through a unique lens: I own a traditional B&B, but I also am part of the Airbnb community. Hotels, inns and B&B’s don’t want to drive short-term rentals out of business. It’s not an us-vs.-them issue. But if short-term rentals are going to play in the hospitality space, they have to abide by the same rules that all businesses and lodging establishments play by. To argue otherwise is to say the laws shouldn’t apply to you; that you are above them. And short-term rentals are certainly not that.
These are a great new lodging option for Vermont visitors. Let’s make sure our local zoning boards and perhaps finally the state Legislature will do what is necessary to ensure they’re safe, healthy, secure and equitable for all.
