[SmellTheGlove]

> What is the definition of a large hotel-like operation exactly?

No idea, but I'm thinking more of an absentee operator model with lots of rooms and properties. What your friend is doing is probably too small to impact the rental market, but in aggregate could be an issue if many were doing it. It's easy for me to say that I don't mind that sort of thing since I own a home and people like your friend would give me additional choices when I go on vacation, but the immediate community may think differently and I think that's where it needs to be decided. It's why I'm really questioning Federal regulation and involvement of a local issue.

Taking it to an extreme, look at a place like San Francisco. Someone there doing what your friend does would be impactful, yet the city itself won't permit enough new construction to solve the supply issue. Regulating AirBNB doesn't solve much there, and the city itself won't allow a solution to the supply issue. By regulating AirBNB, the city itself is actually taking additional adverse action on the supply issue rather than doing anything to mitigate - but that's their choice, their voters, their city. It's not my place to sit here in Maine and tell you that's wrong, but that is essentially what a Federal regulator does by proxy.