AirBNB bill pulled by Virginia Senate

A bill to regulate AirBNB’s in the Commonwealth of Virginia has been pulled by the Virginia Senate.

The bill, SB1391, was sponsored by Senator Lynwood Lewis, and would have curtailed localities’ ability to regulate AirBNB’s so long as the property was managed by a licensed Virginia Realtor.

The bill was immediately decried by localities who saw it as infringing on their ability to deal with short term rentals on the local level. Northampton County passed a resolution calling on Senator Lewis to remove his support of the bill.

Monday, the Senate’s Local Government Committee unanimously voted to ‘pass by’ the bill, essentially ending its chances to be passed this year.

ShoreDailyNews.com has not yet heard an official response from Senator Lewis’ office.

Senator Lewis responded to Northampton’s resolution, stating “What this legislation does do is ensure that short term rental properties that are managed by licensed realtors – who are regulated by the Commonwealth and must follow a specific code of ethics and conduct or risk losing their license – are able to operate safely and successfully and without some of the significant overreach that has happened recently. It ensures that properties that are exempt from the eight items listed in the Bill are operated by licensed professionals who are required to be responsive and available to their properties and to short term tenants. Licensed realtors who are regulated by the Commonwealth and a part of a community have every incentive to make sure that these short term rental properties are used responsibly.”