The Michigan Municipal League continues to show our willingness to compromise and find a reasonable and balanced solution on the short-term rental issue. The League is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to this extremely important issue to our communities, and we continue to need our members to contact their lawmakers on this topic.

The good news is we now have alternative, compromise legislation introduced in the House and Senate. So, when contacting your lawmakers please point them to Senate Bill 547 and House Bill 4985.

Please reach out to your legislators today to ask them to consider this compromise legislation. While we prefer you call your lawmakers, you can also send them an email using the League’s Action Center here.

Lawmakers have stated that their intent with short-term rental legislation is to prevent communities from banning short-term rentals. We agree that they should not be banned. However, any statewide approach to short-term rentals must be balanced. It is important that the Legislature protects both the rights of the short-term rental owner and the rights of the permanent neighborhood resident living next to one. Two recently introduced bills offer differing solutions on how to achieve that.

Senate Bill 547, sponsored by Sen. Ken Horn, would stop local units of government from banning short-term rental properties and create a statewide registry for short-term rentals.

House Bill 4985, introduced by Rep. John Damoose, would define the number of days a property could be used as a short-term rental and still qualify to be regulated as a residential use rather than a commercial one.

These alternative bills deserve to be given thorough hearings in their respective committees before any vote is taken on short-term rental legislation.

By working together, we can develop model legislation that the rest of country will look toward that prevents the commercialization of our neighborhoods and ensures all property owners in a community are being good neighbors.