Metro's Airbnb law unconstitutional!

Metro's unconstitutional law regulating Short Term Rental Properties was struck down today. Circuit Judge Kelvin Jones ruled that because of the laws vagueness there is no way an ordinary person could understand the statute. The challenge to the law was filed by The Beacon Center of Tennessee, representing P.J. and Rachel Anderson who argued the law infringed on their rights as homeowners. The Anderson's own a home in Salemtown. 

Mr. Anderson is a traveling musician and Ms Anderson is a graphic artist. Both are often out of town at the same time so they started renting their home on AirBnB about ten nights a month. That was not problem.  Then, opportunities presented itself for the Anderson's to relocate to Chicago where they would live most of the time but be in Nashville about ten days a month.  They planned to simply expand the number of nights they rented their Nashville home on AirBnB to about twenty.  That was not permitted under the Metro AirBnB ordinance. Represented by The Beacon Center they filed a lawsuit and won.  The city is appealing. To read more about the issue, see this story in the Tennessean: Judge: Metro's Airbnb law unconstitutional.

The Beacon Center is one of the organizations I support with my charitable giving. I am very pleased with this victory. Here is The Beacon Center press release: 

 BREAKING: Beacon Wins Airbnb Lawsuit Against City of Nashville!

Just hours ago, the Beacon Center scored a huge victory when we won the very first lawsuit filed by our Legal Foundation. The judge ruled that the city of Nashville's Airbnb law is unconstitutional. This lawsuit, challenging Airbnb regulations, was the first of its kind anywhere in the nation.

We filed the suit last year on behalf of Nashville homeowners P.J. and Rachel Anderson. 

We are ecstatic about today's ruling by Judge Kelvin Jones. It was a huge victory for homeowners in Nashville and across the state. Not only does the ruling prove that the Nashville City Council completely disregarded the state Constitution when it passed this law, it also sends a loud and clear message to cities across the state when it comes to restricting homeowners' rights in the new economy.

This is an enormous first victory for the Beacon Legal Foundation. Today's ruling shows that we will be a force to be reckoned with as we continue to protect the rights of all Tennesseans against overreaching state and local governments.

Today was a great day for the Anderson family, the Beacon Legal Foundation, homeowners, and most importantly the Constitution.

You can read an article about the victory featured in the Tennessean here.