LOC News
Ninth Circuit Rules in Favor of Hood River's Short Term Rental Regulation
On July 20, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling in Panabaker v. City of Hood River in favor of the city’s motion for summary judgment.
The plaintiffs in this case own homes in Hood River but reside outside of Oregon. They claimed that the city’s short-term rental ordinances violated the implied U.S. Constitution’s Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine, which prohibits the government from passing laws that discriminate against, or unduly burden, interstate commerce, or in other words, out-of-state interests. The ordinances provide that “a dwelling in a residential zone may be rented on a short-term basis only if that dwelling is the primary residence of the property owner or of a tenant under a long-term lease.”
The court concluded that the city’s ordinances were valid and did not violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. First, it concluded that the ordinances did not discriminate against out-of-state interests because the ordinances applied equally to the plaintiffs (out-of-state homeowners) and to Hood River resident homeowners. The court also concluded that the ordinances did not “prevent an out-of-state homeowner…from being able to extract economic value from the property.” Lastly, the court did not find any evidence that the ordinances imposed a “substantial or significant burden on interstate commerce.” Thus, the city’s ordinances were constitutional.
The LOC filed amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief with the District Court of Oregon in support of the city. The League would like to thank Deputy City Attorney Fallon Niedrist de Guzman of the Portland Office of the City Attorney for her excellent work representing LOC in this matter.
Contact: Jayme Pierce, General Counsel – jpierce@orcities.org
Last Updated 7/24/2026