2 days Ago By Nick Natario
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As Houston looks to crack down on short-term rentals, Galveston has been requiring registration for years. If you're looking for a beach getaway, there are nearly five thousand options outside of hotels in Galveston. It is a number that the city discovered after it put in place an annual registration for short-term rental owners.
"We've jumped from about 27 short-term rentals in 2019 to about 4,900 short-term rentals in 2024," Galveston Park Board CFO Bryson Frazier explained. Registrations that allow them to collect taxes, and help with enforcement. But it isn't always easy.
Despite the ordinance, there are still a lot of owners who don't register. "We know right now, we have 1,000 short-term rentals that aren't registered," Galveston City Council Member Marie Robb said during a workshop meeting last week. It's a figure Galveston knows because of a software it uses.
Now, another wants to use it too. This week, Houston will consider making short-term rental owners register and spending $1.6 million on software to track them.
"Here's how the software works. It goes to short-term rental websites and looks at listings and compares them to registrations. If they're not registered, the city can send compliance letters or ask the website to take them down.
Galveston said it does this and last year it ended up with 94% compliance. "In our experience here, we've been successful when doing that," Frazier said. While there's been success, complaint enforcement is another issue.
The island has a complaint hotline. Over the last couple of years, 450 complaints have been made, which are handled by officers and code enforcement. "I know that is something that our city council is looking into right now is exactly why type of enforcement footprint they're going to need to make sure people are following those types of rules," Frazier explained.
Houston neighbors want their leaders to look closely at it too and shared concerns to the council ahead of the vote. "Who's going to show up while someone is trying sleep for work, while someone is trying to get sleep for school," Houston resident Jason Ginsburg said. "Who's going to show up and put their foot down and enforce that ordinance.
" ABC13 reached out to Air B &B about Houston's proposal. A spokesperson sent ABC13 the following statement. "Home sharing offers an economic lifeline for many Houston residents, boosts the local economy, and helps the City absorb surges in demand during major events.
In 2023 alone, travel on Airbnb helped generate approximately $1.6 billion to the Houston economy. We remain committed to ensuring the proposed regulations make it as easy as possible for Houston residents to continue earning extra money by sharing their home.
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