Southampton Town is weighing in on short-term rentals in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Supervisor Jay Schneiderman directing the ordinance enforcement division to crack down on illegal rentals during April.
Town law requires rental permits and a minimum rental period of two weeks. “However, many properties use online platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway to secure short-term tenancies that violate the two-week minimum,” the town said in an announcement. “Many properties are renting by the night or for just the weekend at a time when the community is growing increasingly concerned about new people entering the community from the New York metropolitan area, the nation’s epicenter for the virus.”
Under the town’s state of emergency declaration, penalties for violations of the rental rules include revocation of a permit and fines up to two times the value of the rental cost. There is a temporary exception for rental law violations if the tenant is a health care worker who is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Anyone we find engaging in short-term rental activities, including the posting of a short-term rental listing for this period, will be subject to significant financial penalties,” said Ryan Murphy, who directs Southampton Town’s public safety and ordinance enforcement divisions.
Mr. Schneiderman said he would like to see any fines the town collected allocated to local food pantries that have seen what he said was a fourfold increase in demand.
