Key West In Talks With Airbnb About Vacation Rentals

WLRN 91.3 FM | By Nancy Klingener

Published May 27, 2015 at 3:09 PM EDT

Airbnb is a hugely popular homesharing and renting website. But the city of Key West, which strictly limits vacation rentals, has brought five code compliance cases against the company. It is now in settlement talks.

Airbnbis a hugely popular way to find someplace to stay on vacation. More than 25 million guests have used the service, according to the website.

But in the Florida Keys, renting your home for less than a month requires a special license. The city of Key West's Code Compliance Board agendafor this week included 14 cases against unlicensed vacation rentals.

Five of those cases nameAirbnb. But none of those will be heard this week, because the city and the company are trying to reach a settlement.

Short-term rental licenses are strictly limited in the Keys. They sell for more than $40,000. The Keys tourism agency recently called for a crackdown on unlicensed rentals, which it calls unfair competition for the more traditional tourism industry.

"We've been engaged in productive conversations with policymakers in Key West around the many benefits of home-sharing and remain committed to protecting home-sharing in Key West," said Christopher Nulty, an Airbnb spokesman.

Jim Young, Key West's code compliance director, said he did not want to comment on the cases while settlement talks are ongoing.