Orange Beach Airbnb Rules Draw Pushback as Rental Managers Seek City Ordinances
Local rental managers planned to ask the Orange Beach council for ordinances requiring guest IDs and signed agreements in response to new Airbnb rules. The request came in a release from a company owned by a sitting councilwoman and her husband.
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Local vacation rental managers planned to ask the Orange Beach City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to respond to new Airbnb rules they say would put locally owned companies at a disadvantage, urging the city to adopt ordinances that would apply to every short-term rental no matter how it is booked. The Orange Beach Airbnb rules dispute was laid out in a news release from Brandy A. Davis of Beachball Properties.
The release said managers intended to speak at the council’s joint regular and committee of the whole session, scheduled for 5 p.m. at City Hall, and would ask members to examine the details of Airbnb’s new host and checkout policies, which the release said take effect Nov. 20. This report was prepared without an account of what was said at the meeting or of any council response.
The company behind the release has a tie to the council
The release does not come from a disinterested party. Beachball Properties, the company it was issued from, is owned by City Councilwoman Ginger Harrelson and her husband, Hunter Harrelson.
Ginger Harrelson sits on the body being asked to act. Hunter Harrelson also holds a tourism post: on Oct. 20, the same City Council chose him for a seat on the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism board, with a term running through September 2029.
The ordinances requested in the release would govern an industry in which the couple’s company is a significant player. South AL News reported in September that the business, which they opened in 2016, has grown to more than 350 properties in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan and Perdido Key. The release did not address whether Ginger Harrelson would take part in any council discussion or vote on the request.
What the rental managers want
According to the release, Airbnb is promoting the changes as sparing guests from “chores” at checkout and easing some cleaning requirements. Davis’ release argues the bigger issue lies elsewhere.
“It’s not about chores,” the release states. “The real story is in the fine print.”
The release says hosts will no longer be allowed to require a guest ID, a signed rental agreement or guest contact information. It contends that without a signed agreement local police will not evict a guest, and that without identification owners have no protection against fraud, theft or damage.
Those are the release’s characterizations of the policy and its consequences. The release did not include a response from Airbnb, and it did not quote the policy language itself.
The managers’ request, as outlined in the release, is for ordinances requiring three things for every short-term rental in Orange Beach, regardless of platform:
- A guest ID.
- A signed rental agreement.
- Emergency contact information.
The release also frames the issue as one of protecting locally owned rental businesses, their employees and the neighborhoods they serve.
Hurricane Isaias is part of the argument
The release points to the recent scare from Hurricane Isaias as an example of why contact information matters, saying it is vital for reaching guests in an emergency.
That storm remains fresh along the coast. Gov. Kay Ivey ordered non-residents, tourists and visitors south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Baldwin County to leave beginning Oct. 8, at a time when county officials put occupancy at beach hotels and vacation rentals at about 80%. Isaias came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane near Destin, Florida, on Oct. 9, and Orange Beach reported downed trees and debris but no injuries.
The evacuation also put rental agreements in the spotlight. In the days afterward, some visitors took to social media seeking refunds, and tourism officials urged guests to contact the company they booked with and review their rental agreements.
Why short-term rentals matter here
Vacation rentals are a major business on the Alabama coast, and Airbnb’s role in the local market has been changing. In September, the platform began automatically collecting and remitting occupancy taxes for hosts on Alabama listings. South AL News has reported that the local market includes about 75 rental firms.
Any ordinance would have to come before the council. The Nov. 20 date cited in the release falls a little more than two weeks after the Nov. 3 meeting.
