Short-Term Rental Registration Refund Public Notice

In July 2021, the City of Southport adopted an amendment to our Unified Development Ordinances that set supplemental standards for Short-term vacation rentals and homestays. Part of the ordinance requirement was participating in a registration program to ensure compliance with all the standards and the occupancy tax requirements.

The NC Court of Appeals made a judgement (Schroeder v. City of Wilmington)  that cities are not authorized to require registration of short-term rentals. Cities are authorized to use zoning to dictate which zoning districts they are allowed. Based on this precedent, the City is refunding the fees that were collected when the registration program was being enforced.

If you registered a Short-term Vacation Rental or Homestay and paid for the permit, we are in the process of issuing refunds. We anticipate all refunds will be processed by the end of March. If you paid originally with a Debit or Credit card, please verify that the card is still active, so the payment can be reversed. If you no longer use that card, please notify Tori Deviney in Permitting, as soon as possible. She can be reached at (910) 457-7925.