Will we go to jail for renting our home on AirBNB?

[Kristopher S.]

Hi there, my wife and I live in NYC but are in the process of closing on our first home in Nashville. We love Nashville and plan to live in the home part time and list it as a short term rental when back in NYC. 

While securing financing, one well-respected lender told us we can easily classify this as a second home and qualify for a great rate with 10% down. Another well-respected lender said the CFPB is actively penalizing buyers who rent out second homes and will make an example out of us. Who do we listen to?

[John Chapman]

I think most posters are missing the issue that your lender is getting at.  It's that if you rent the home out as a vacation rental, it's not a second home but an investment property.  Second homes and investment properties are very different for conventional financing purposes (different rates, different down payment requirements, etc.)   My understanding is that second homes can only be rented for some short period of time (I think it's like 14 days), otherwise they are considered investment properties.  Basically, if you represent it's going to be a second home and then rent it out a lot, you will be lying about your intended use of the home.  This is like saying a home will be owner occupied home and then renting it out.  That's mortgage fraud and is just not worth the risk.