Weekly News Brief – May 31, 2021

Now that the economy is slowly progressing back to normal, the issues facing real estate are also slowly getting back to normal.

This week we saw reports that one of the pre-pandemic greatest hits is returning back to the forefront. The Republican-controlled state legislature is moving forward on a bill that would ban local restrictions on short-term rentals. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments fought short-term rentals with a ferocity that had not been seen since the first days of the legalization of marijuana.

However, the lack of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic brought these disputes to a halt. However, now that leisure travel is returning, these disputes are also returning. While I do not expect the current bill to pass in its current form, the tension between local governments, generally responsive to neighbors who oppose short-term rentals in residential zones, and the state legislature, who may be more responsive to the lobbying efforts of companies such as Airbnb and Vrbo.