Palm Beach County short-term rental ordinance unconstitutional

NetChoice Communications Director, Robert Winterton, shared his insights on the efforts by Palm Beach County to regulate short-term rentals (STRs), stating that it infringes on the constitutional rights of homeowners, invades the privacy of county residents, and undermines a vital economic engine to the local economy. This was the legal testimony filed today by NetChoice.

Proposed Ordinance 95-30 would require online STR platforms, like Homeaway, Airbnb and VRBO, to disclose user data to the government or face liability requirements.

NetChoice believes the ordinance:

–            Violates the U.S. constitution

–            Breaks federal Internet law

–            Prevents local residents from earning extra income and would have wide-ranging negative impacts on the local economy

–            Threatens the privacy of local residents

“Palm Beach County is flaunting years of federal protections that have benefitted consumers and enabled the Internet to become a vital economic engine for local, state and national economies,” said Carl Szabo, VP and General Counsel for NetChoice. “The existence of short-term rentals in Palm Beach benefits local residents as much as it does tourists. STRs allow local homeowners to pay their mortgages and afford the added burdens of local taxes and hurricane insurance. Visitors save money by staying in STRs enabling them to have extra cash to spend at local restaurants and stores.”

NetChoice’s testimony detailed how Palm Beach’s proposed ordinance breaks the 4th amendment of the U.S. constitution, as it requires unreasonable search and seizure of personal information.  Further, the proposed ordinance also violates the Communications Decency Act,  which protects online platforms from being legally responsible for content posted by their users. The law’s existence has enabled consumers and businesses to conduct billions of dollars of commerce on the Internet.