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Vacation Rentals Now Legal in Pacific Grove

It is now legal to rent a house or condo for your weekend or weekly vacation in Pacific Grove, the quaint town on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula.On Wednesday, January 6, the Pacific Grove City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that will permit rentals for less than 30 days, which had previously been illegal.  The City plans to regulate short-term rentals by registering them, issuing a license, and inspecting them for fire safety, including smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

Property managers and owners who are renting their homes for less than 30-day periods will be required to collect the same ten percent transient occupancy tax as hotels and motels do.  Visitors should not be surprised to see this surcharge added to the cost of renting a home.

You may have rented a home in Pacific Grove for less than a month in the recent past.  City officials acknowledged that they have been aware that it was going on, despite the ban on such rentals.  The City realized, however, that licensing and taxing those rentals could generate some much-needed income to the city.

Property owners may register their homes by contacting the City of Pacific Grove, or Monterey Bay Property Management has a registration service whereby the management company will register a home for a nominal fee.  Property owners who fail to register their rentals face significant financial penalties.  An additional requirement for property owners who live more than 30 minutes from the property is to have a responsible party who can respond to complaints within 30 minutes.  Monterey Bay Property Management will provide an “on-call” agent for any owner who is managing his or her own property, again for a very nominal fee.

Pacific Grove City Council Votes in Favor of Short-Term Rentals

The Pacific Grove City Council voted unanimously this week to modify a 12-year old restriction on rentals for less than 30 days.  The modification would permit rentals of residential property with registration, licenses, and payment of transient occupancy tax.  This move will not only legitimize activity that has been going on in the City, but will bring in some much-needed cash flow to this great town.

The modification to the City’s rental ordinance could not have come at a better time, since approximately 45,000 people will descend on the Monterey Peninsula in June, 2010, for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Monterey Bay Property Management will be registering its entire portfolio of Pacific Grove properties in January, once the ordinance is adopted, in an effort to make PG properties available to its customers who desire to rent a home for less than 30 days.

This is also a great opportunity for private property owners who manage their own properties to come out of the closet and be up front and above board about their rental business and contribute to the welfare of the city we all love so much.  For property owners who would like assistance with this process, Monterey Bay Property Management will offer a registration service, as well as a monthly “on-call” service for out-of-town owners who would like a 24/7 contact within arms’ reach of their properties.

Pacific Grove Planning Commission recommends permitting short-term rentals

After twelve years of short-term rentals occurring throughout the city, despite an ordinance against such rentals, the City of Pacific Grove has decided to take a different approach.  The City’s current ordinance, enacted by the City Council in 1997, disallows rentals of single-family residences for less than 30 days.  The City has now taken the position that these rentals should be licensed, inspected and taxed.  The City has missed out on over a million dollars in revenue that could have been generated since the original ordinance was passed.  Licensed real estate agents complied with the ordinance passed in 1997, offering their vacation rental homes for 30-day stays.  But owner-operators continued to offer their properties for rent by the night and by the week, aware that it would be difficult for the City to successfully prosecute them.

The City’s Planning Commission has reviewed a proposed ordinance that would require properties rented out for less than 30 days at a time to be licensed, registered and inspected by the city.   The Commission is recommending that advertisements for short-term rentals, whether in the newspaper, on television or on the Internet, must display the license number of the rental that has been issued by the City.  The City Manager will be in charge of enforcing the ordinance, and has indicated that the City will aggressively monitor advertisements to see if short-term rentals are being offered.  Penalties for property owners or their agents who fail to register rentals or respond to complaints will be levied.

The advent of legalization of rentals less than 30 days is joyous news to visitors, property managers, owners of second homes in PG, and PG business persons, all of whom will benefit from having visitors to the area.  If you are one who loves to visit Pacific Grove – stay tuned!  You are about to have a lot more housing options!