ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — City leaders in St. Augustine are sounding the alarm about a wave of unregistered short-term rentals popping up.
Officials said many of them are only appearing during the holiday season.
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City Manager David Birchim told commissioners during a meeting on Monday that there are around 100 unregistered short-term rentals that came online.
“They just pop up just for the Nights of Light season, so they’re difficult to find,” Birchim said.
It’s something that James Ingoldsby, who oversees more than two dozen properties in the historic downtown area, does not want to see.
“It’s unfortunate that people would do that,” Ingoldsby said.
The city charges a flat fee starting at $303 annually for the registration of a studio, and adds a tiered rate based on the number of bedrooms per rental.
The city said there is a code enforcement officer whose job is focused on those short-term rental violations, but the rentals, it said, are popping up just as fast as they are disappearing.
“By the time we achieve compliance with them, they’ve already shut down in some cases,” Birchim said.
A city spokesperson told Action News Jax the code enforcement officer has reached out individually to and gained compliance from the first 40. Official notices were sent earlier this week to the remaining 60 rentals, and they are hopeful they will come into compliance by the end of the compliance period given in the notices.
Action News Jax asked the city how much it is losing in money from the unregistered properties, but a spokesperson said until the residence is inspected and the occupancy is determined, they have no way of knowing what those fees would be.
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