Atlantic City plans stricter rules for short-term rentals

Atlantic City, New Jersey, is planning to tighten short-term rental regulations with a new ordinance.

Under the proposed rules, short-term rentals will be required to pay one-time application fees of $150. Annual licensing fees would cost $2,000 for properties with a maximum occupancy of eight people, and $2,400 for rentals that can house up to 16 people.

The city also plans to set up a 24-hour hotline for complaints about short-term rental properties. Under the proposed ordinance, short-term rental properties with two verified complaints can lose their licenses, and hosts who violate the proposed ordinance could face fines of up to $2,000 per day.

Currently, 85 short-term rentals are registered in Atlantic City, but third-party data indicates that around 700 are operating within city limits.

Once the new Atlantic City law gets final approval from the City Council, the rules are expected to go into effect in October. The new measures are expected to generate $1.2 million annually for the city.

Short-term rental operators in Atlantic City who use short-term rental platforms for their listings are subject to state sales tax and occupancy fees. New Jersey short-term rental hosts are required to register with state tax authorities and collect these taxes from their guests. Airbnb and Vrbo collect state occupancy taxes and fees from guests on behalf of their hosts in Atlantic City.

MyLodgeTax can automate and simplify lodging tax compliance. For more on short-term lodging taxes in New Jersey, see our state Vacation Rental Tax Guide. 

Earlier this month, Airbnb blocked the listings of 35 short-term rental properties in Atlantic City, Brigantine, and Ventnor due to complaints about house parties that were in violation of the state’s health regulations. And in Jackson, New Jersey, the town council banned short-term rentals after a series of large house parties were held in vacation rentals.

Jersey City has also cracked down on short-term rentals in recent years. In 2019, voters defeated a referendum that would have overturned the city’s vacation rental law.

After the law was passed last summer, more than 20,000 signatures were submitted to the city to get the issue on the ballot. Airbnb spent more than $4 million supporting the measure.

Jersey City’s law bans vacation rentals in buildings with more than four units and limits short-term rentals to 60 days per year when the owner is not on-site. Short-term rentals are only allowed in condominiums with approval of the condo board, and renters are not allowed to operate short-term rentals at all. The rules also require hosts to obtain a permit from the city, which must be renewed every year, and an agent must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to issues within two hours.