The case of Johnson v. Pocono Twp. Zoning Hearing Bd. & Pocono Twp., 1048 C.D. 2021 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Feb 07, 2024) addressed several key legal principles related to Pennsylvania short–term rental (colloquy “Airbnb”) zoning ordinances and property rights. This Pennsylvania Common Pleas Appeals Court case did two important things: First, it weighed in on an important question by deciding that a township’s zoning ordinance prohibiting...
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A building permit is like a permission slip from the local government that gives you or your contractor the green light to start a construction or remodeling project on your property. It's a way of ensuring that the work follows the rules and regulations in your area. Securing the right permits for your home renovation can be a breeze when you know what to do. Skipping...
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We previously wrote about changes to Philadelphia's zoning laws which now mandate holding either a Visitor Accommodation (VA) permit or a Limited Lodging License for short-term rental (STR) properties, which you can read about here. While the VA permit is less restrictive than the limited lodging license, obtaining approval for a VA permit can be challenging due to specific zoning district requirements. However, a recent...
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Happy New Year! Along with our collective resolutions have come the imposition of new regulations from the City of Philadelphia. On January 1st, 2023, Philadelphia rolled out a new set of regulations for Airbnb and short-term rental properties. While these should not come as a surprise to anyone since the City has been delaying the start of these for some time now, Airbnb has now...
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Pennsylvania Judge Stacy Wallace ruled on October 31, 2022 (Permanent-Injunction-Granted.pdf (ij.org) that state real estate licensing requirements were unconstitutional when applied to Petitioner, Sally Ladd, who manages short-term rentals in the Poconos. Sally Ladd was forced to shut down her short-term rental business in 2017 after the state department began investigating her for practicing real estate without a license. Ladd has been renting out her...
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Like most cities, “Streeteries” or accommodations made to restaurants to support outdoor dining, has had a major surge in Philadelphia since the start of the covid pandemic. Not only does outdoor dining provide customers with a more covid-comfortable dining environment, now that the pandemic is waning it can still provide restaurants with a much-needed boost in revenue. For a while, these Streeteries operated in a sort...
Read MoreBy January 1, 2023, Airbnb and all other short term rental sites will require all Philadelphia hosts to comply with new legislation or their listings will be removed from the platforms. This “crack-down” was set to start in July of 2022, but has since been postponed. An average rental license will no longer be enough to support a listing on a short-term hosting platform. Short-term...
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