Law & Regulation
- Per Idaho law, a homeowner’s association cannot restrict the operation of short term rentals in any way: “55-3211. PROHIBITED CONDUCT — RENTAL RESTRICTIONS. No homeowner’s association may add, amend, or enforce any covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way that limits or prohibits the rental, for any amount of time, of any property, land, or structure thereon within the jurisdiction of the homeowner’s association.” For more, see Idaho Code 55-3211 (external link).
- Bonner County Planning Department regulates vacation rentals through a permit system. See: Bonner County Code 12-484 (external link) and Bonner County ID Vacation Rental Permit Registration (external link). BC Planning Dept contact: (208) 265-1458 or planning@bonnercountyid.gov. Website: https://www.bonnercountyid.gov/departments/Planning (external link).
Complaints
- Currently operating short term rentals in CHE can be found here, with manager contact information (for CHE HOA members only). If you have a complaint, please contact the manager first.
- If the manager cannot resolve your complaint, here is the Bonner County Planning complaints form page (external link).
For Owners of Short Term Rentals
Help the community and help yourself by reducing the risk of harm. A guest who sues the community will sue the property owner first.
Here are some tips to reduce the chance of harm to the renter, property, and community, gleaned from various sources:
- Get a copy of Dan’s liability waiver here.
- Give your guests a gate remote, not your code. If you give them a code, you are giving them perpetual access to CHE under your name for the price of one night’s rent.
- Establish a land phone line to enable 911 emergency calls. Many people won’t have good cell phone reception here and may have trouble describing where they are during an emergency.
- Don’t offer any outdoor fire pit or anything that encourages them to make a camp fire. Post notice of any seasonal fire restrictions.
- Most short term rental sites allow you to check the reputation of the renter. See if other property owners lodged complaints about a renter before you give them free run of your house.
- Consider installing a loud noise detector in the house.