Vacation rental companies like Airbnb might soon be required to share more information with the city in a bid to boost transparency as Chicago aldermen again seek to get more control over the industry.
Wrigleyville Ald. Bennett Lawson is behind a push to get his City Council colleagues the addresses and management contact information for the rentals that make up a significant portion of the apartments in some neighborhoods.
It’s information the city needs to address a host of potential problems, like parties in rented homes getting out of control or an influx of short-term units taking up much-needed housing stock, Lawson said after the ordinance advanced in the City Council’s License and Consumer Protection Committee Tuesday.
“It became clear that we just need the data,” Lawson, 44th, said. “We need to add some transparency.”
The regularly updated database Lawson wants rental companies to help the city build would also include details like the unit’s maximum occupancy, an apparent attempt to help neighbors ward off rowdy parties. The city already receives some information about the units, but not much, he added.
Two recent parties in vacation rentals have ended in shootings in the ward, Lawson said.
“I’ve had some that have gotten way out of hand,” he told aldermen. “Instead of always trying to figure out on the backside who is this, who rented it, if we know that there are some concerns on the front end, we can work with the platform, we can work with neighbors and address them proactively.”
The summer party months are fast approaching in Lawson’s ward, which includes the hallowed grounds of Wrigley Field and the surrounding packed bars of North Clark Street, plus the Northalsted festivals that bring in thousands of LGBTQ+ people.
Many of the revelers rent apartments and make a weekend of it, bringing a frat house vibe to stretches of the North Side that lots of year-round residents don’t appreciate.
Aldermen have struggled for years to rein in the burgeoning vacation rental industry, installing ordinances to ban the rentals on a precinct-by-precinct basis and complaining that the operators can too easily slip through the cracks of the regulations in place.
In addition to local and state hotel taxes, Chicago short-term rental units face targeted fees with revenues earmarked for domestic violence and homelessness services. The city expects the short-term rental taxes to raise over $12.2 million this year.
The committee advanced the measure Tuesday unanimously. It could face a final City Council vote next week.
There are around 235 short-term rental units scattered throughout Lawson’s ward, he said. Building owners can often make more through short-term rents than long-term leases, especially in tourist-heavy areas like Wrigleyville, he added.
Added up, those units put a dent in the city’s housing stock, he said.
“Potentially there are 1,000’s of units that are not available to Chicagoans,” he said. “Having a little bit more information is going to help us chart through the summer and next steps if we need.”
The committee also approved ordinances Tuesday to ban the sale of marijuana-like hemp products in Ald. Felix Cardona’s ward, including the Hermosa and Belmont Cragin neighborhoods, as well as to renew an “emerging business” permit for a delivery company that uses small, rolling robots.
Moments later, the Workforce Development Committee advanced an ordinance allowing for work experience deemed equivalent to a college degree to be considered for eligibility in hiring for city jobs.
Tribune reporter A.D. Quig contributed.