New Santa Fe law allows only one short-term rental permit per person
- Dec 22, 2020 | Jennifer Sokolowsky
A new short-term rental law in Santa Fe, New Mexico, allows only one vacation rental permit per person in residential zones and limits the number of short-term rental permits in residential zones to 1,000 citywide.
The ordinance, which goes into effect on January 1, 2021, also sets out proximity rules, requiring vacation rental homes to be located at least 50 feet away from each other and limiting the number of short-term rental units within multi-unit buildings.
Under the measure, short-term rentals must have a local operator who can arrive at the rental within an hour to respond to issues, and hosts are required to keep records for three years that the city can view upon request. Vacation rental units may be rented only once every seven days, but this rule doesn’t apply from November 15 to January 15.
Santa Fe’s current short-term rental rules have been in place since 2016 and require vacation rental operators to obtain an annual permit. The new law specifies that permits can only be issued to people, not to business entities, and that permit numbers must be included in all advertisements. Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo must remove listings with invalid permit numbers.
Current operators with more than one legal permit will be allowed to keep all of their permits, and permits submitted by December 31, 2020, aren’t subject to the new proximity or one-permit-per-person rules.
Approximately 250 out of the 975 short-term rentals operating in the city are registered. Hosts who break the new rules may be subject to a fine of $100 per day for a first violation, increasing up to $500 per day for further offenses. The city has hired data company Host Compliance to help collect information on short-term rentals to aid in enforcement.
Santa Fe isn’t the only city in New Mexico tightening short-term rental laws. Albuquerque recently passed a new ordinance that requires hosts to register with the city in order to operate a short-term rental, include their permit number in any advertising, and designate an agent who can be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to issues, among other regulations. Hosts who break the law can be fined $500 per day.
Taos also recently updated its law to limit the number of short-term rentals to 120, although between 160 and 180 are currently operating in the city. Property owners will have to reapply for short-term rental permits in January.
All New Mexico short-term rental hosts are also required to pay the state’s gross receipts tax, which they can pass on to guests. Short-term rental hosts in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos must also collect local lodgers’ tax. Airbnb and Vrbo collect New Mexico gross receipts tax and local lodgers’ tax for Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos hosts.
MyLodgeTax can help all New Mexico short-term rental hosts comply with lodging tax requirements, from registration to filing. For more on short-term rental taxes in New Mexico, see our state Vacation Rental Tax Guide. If you have tax questions related to vacation rental properties, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you with answers.
