Data suggests Portland short-term rental regulations aren’t being enforced [Video]

It’s been nearly seven years since Portland’s short-term rental regulations went into effect. Portland City Council is now considering a proposal to tighten the existing regulations, but a group of anonymous locals claims the existing rules aren’t being effectively enforced. Property owners who want to rent their homes for less than 30 days have to pay a fee and register with the city. If they don’t, they could be faced with a fine, but Eight Investigates’ exclusive analysis of city data found that city rarely fines people. Some affordable housing advocates worry that short-term rentals reduce the availability of long-term housing for locals. Portland currently caps non-owner-occupied STRs at 400 in an effort to discourage people from buying buildings to rent out on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. “We’re in a housing crisis, right?” asked Portland city councilor Kate Sykes. “So, the vacancy rate for apartments in Portland, and or, …