This bill amends Section 42-63.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-63.1 entitled "Tourism and Development." The bill removes the prohibition on cities, towns, or municipalities from prohibiting the owner from offering a rental property for tourist or transient use through a hosting platform. It also removes the requirement for hosting platforms to comply with certain tax collection and remittance requirements. Instead, the division of taxation will confirm whether a hosting platform is registered in compliance with tax requirements upon request from a city, town, or municipality.

The bill also requires any short-term rental property listed for rent on a third-party hosting platform's website to be registered with the department of business regulation. The registration must include information such as the owner's contact information, the address of the rental property, and the intended use of the property. The department of business regulation will notify hosting platforms to inform their listed properties to register with the department by December 31, 2021, or be subject to fines. The department will also create an online database to store all registered short-term rental units. Owners who fail to register and list their property as a short-term rental on a hosting platform website will be subject to civil fines.

Statutes affected:
6097: 42-63.1-14