(1) Booking Agent. Means a person or entity that facilitates reservations for the direct or indirect receipt of a fee for, or collects payment for, accommodations on behalf of a person offering to the public a residential dwelling as limited lodging or as a hotel or similar short-term rental. Merely publishing an advertisement for accommodations does not make the publisher a Booking Agent. A Booking Agent does not include a person or entity that facilitates reservations or collects payment for accommodations if the accommodations are offered by a person operating under the same trademark, trade name, or service mark used by the person or entity facilitating reservations or collecting payment, provided that such person or entity maintains a publicly available telephone contact number through which such person or entity receives and processes complaints concerning activities at such accommodations.
(2) No person or entity shall, in exchange for compensation, act as a booking agent with respect to limited lodging, hotel or similar short-term rental use unless the person or entity has a valid Limited Lodging and Hotels Booking Agent License.
(3) No person shall, in exchange for compensation, act as a booking agent in connection with any particular property without first obtaining:
(a) evidence that either: (.1) a valid Limited Lodging Operator License; or (.2) a rental license pursuant to Section 9-3902 ("Rental Licenses"), identified as a hotel rental license upon establishment of rental license categories by the Department by regulation, is in place in connection with the property; and
(b) written consent from the holder of the license for the disclosure to the City of the information required under this Section.
(4) A booking agent that has been notified by the City that the required Limited Lodging Operator's license or rental license required to operate a particular property is not in place, or the property is ineligible for use as intended in the booking for some other reason, shall remove the listing within five (5) business days of notification and confirm that it has done so. A booking agent so notified who removes the listing within such period shall not be liable for a violation associated with such listing.
(5) As a condition of such license, a booking agent shall provide to the Department such information concerning operator transactions, in such format and with such frequency as established by the Department, as may be required by regulation.
Notes
| 1338 | Added, Bill No. 210081 (approved June 23, 2021), effective April 1, 2022. |