Crackdown on short term tourist rentals

IF YOU ARE planning to rent an apartment to short term tourists beware . Snoops will be on the prowl and  you could be facing hefty fines.

Panama’s Tourism Authority has announced a major crackdown on home owners who provide rentals to tourists for less than 45 days.

" Clandestine lodges" will be hunted down through an intelligence operation to detect law breakers and they will face fines between $5 000 and $50 000.
The administrator of the Tourism Authority, Salomon Shamah, said Thursday, September 12 that the goal is to eliminate the practice of renting private hmes to tourists staying less than 45 days, which now affects 25 % of accommodation activity.
The issue is not only illegal , because the tourists renting private residences for periods less than 45 days are in violation of Law No. 80 of November 2012, but it affects national security Shamah said during a meeting of Central American Tourism Ministers in Panama.
"People who come to commit crimes do not want to stay in hotels, because there are cameras, security systems and 24 hour monitoring and you must leave a copy of your passport and in most cases have to pay by credit card ," he said .
Renting private apartments to tourists also affects the security of the building , and establishing a corridor of people outside the property, which is also cause for complaint management boards of these properties. Shamah said .
It can also be dangerous to the tourists themselves , because the residence may not comply with the safety standards required for an activity like that.
" The other thing is unfair competition , ie you cannot have an apartment of 120 square meters and give it away for $ 80 a night whilehotels are investing a lot of money to operate,” he said.

Shamah stressed that "clandestine lodges " do not pay the applicable tourism taxes.