Baltimore City seeking to regulate Airbnb

[Lisa S.]

I'm guessing some MD/Baltimore investors saw the Baltimore Sun piece about the City Council seeking to regulate Airbnb rentals for investors. Note that this would in theory not directly affect house hackers, but they would seek to impose a hotel tax on everyone. They list 1,200 Baltimore Airbnb hosts, and the City Council president, Jack Young, dismissively says something like "oh they're earning enough money." The article also quotes a Baltimore investor, Michael Sung, who lives in Seattle. He is quoted as having 75 investors who plan to lobby the City Council. I reached out to him and got this website link, where you can sign up if you are a Baltimore Airbnb host, if you're interested in being part of any effort to push back on the City Council:

https://www.sharingbaltimore.com/

Baltimore Sun article

I'm a landlord in the city, and I also own a home in the city that I live in and periodically rent out the basement on Airbnb. I've been an Airbnb host and guest in multiple cities, and while I think some reasonable regulation is good, I don't think slapping a hotel tax on everyone is the right solution, and if you follow the money, it goes straight to the hotel industry.