Is It Illegal To Rent Out Your Home?

Increasingly, yes:

Short-term vacation rentals have existed for years with little attempt by local governments to stamp them out. But thanks to the Internet, an industry that was once small and underground has, in a few short years, exploded into a multibillion-dollar worldwide business. Airbnb, an Internet booking engine launched in 2008, connects more than a million renters and hosts in 192 countries. Homeowners, many of them left jobless by the economic downturn, have increasingly turned to the practice as a relatively secure, entrepreneurial way to leverage the value of their most significant asset.

But an opportunity for some can be seen as a threat by others. Short-term vacation rentals like Hogan’s cut into the bottom line of some powerful interests, and those interests are pressing local governments to put a stop to the practice.