Short-term rentals could undermine Michigan's anti-trafficking bill, critics say

The Michigan Senate Housing and Human Services Committee on Tuesday advanced a bill proposed by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) that would require hotels and motels to post information with the human trafficking hotline.

The committee reported the bill to the full House for a floor vote. All six of the committee’s Democrats present, along with Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs), voted in favor to advance the bill, while Sens. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) and Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton) passed.

Testimony on the bill was heard by the committee in March. McMorrow emphasized then that the bill took its cues from the Detroit Human Trafficking Task Force. In May 2024, the Detroit City Council voted unanimously to adopt similar policies at the local level.

“Michigan is a unique target. We sit at the intersection of major highway corridors and international crossing points, and traffickers know it,” McMorrow said. “They also know that the high profile events that we host, such as the Auto Show and the Woodward Dream Cruise, create cover for more people moving through and more opportunities to exploit. And where do traffickers often operate? Hotels and motels.”

McMorrow said the state requires hotline numbers to be posted at rest areas, airports, adult entertainment venues and locations with a known trafficking history.

“It’s a good start, but it doesn’t go far enough,” she said.

Jack Trebtoske, director of Government Affairs for the Michigan Restaurant Lodging Association, testified prior to the vote. He said that although the organization is in favor of the legislation, they would hope to see a loophole in the legislation: that short-term rentals are not included in the text.

“Michigan hosts tens of thousands of short term rentals listings across platforms like Airbnb and VRBO,” Trebtoske said. “These properties offer the same, and in many cases greater, opportunity for trafficking to occur. Private settings, minimal oversight, cash or platform mediated transactions, and no trained staff on premises.”

“We simply ask that the net be cast wide enough to matter,” he added.

Trebtoske urged an amendment to the bill to include these types of rentals, which committee chair Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) said was in the works, but not yet ready to add to the legislation. Lindsey had raised similar questions during testimony on the bill in March.

Amy Smith, the director of healing services with Avalon Healing Center in Detroit and a member of the Detroit Human Trafficking Task Force, told the committee in March that the postings “provides a lifeline for victims, and then it increases public awareness and accountability within these environments.”