S.F. to create city office to enforce Airbnb law

San Francisco will take a carrot-and-stick approach to vacation rentals, making it easier for hosts on services such as Airbnb to comply with the law while cracking down on those who break it. Mayor Ed Lee on Thursday will announce a new Office of Short Term Rental Administration and Enforcement — a six-person, one-stop shop to streamline host registrations and investigate violators. [...] the city has started a new wave of enforcement, sending violation letters to 15 hosts for allegedly turning 73 residential units into full-time hotels. A group called ShareBetter SF plans to file signatures on Monday to qualify a ballot initiative for the fall asking voters to drastically curb vacation rentals and impose steep fines on platforms like Airbnb for violations. The new approach, “short-term registration 2.0,” he said, draws on lessons already learned about barriers to registration, and how people try to flout or ignore the law. Dale Carlson, a leader of the ShareBetter SF ballot initiative, said he is glad the city “is finally taking some actions” against offenders, but charged that the overall approach still falls short. “You cannot enforce this law or any other law about short-term rentals unless you have two things: data on the number of nights a place is rented and the ability to go after hosting platforms that list illegal units,” he said. While in-person appointments will still be required to complete the process, the city has worked through a backlog and has plenty of slots available, and will be able to offer walk-in appointments, rather than requiring long advance notice, she said. “This is the most innovative city in the world and so we are glad to see the city is finally making the short-term rental permit process simple and frictionless for our many middle-class hosts,” spokesman Christopher Nulty said in a statement. Some funding comes from a $50 fee that hosts pay every two years, but even more comes as listings are legalized and begin to remit the city’s 14 percent hotel tax, officials said.