ST. PETE BEACH — To help ease the strain on residents facing foreclosure, the city is now allowing single-family homeowners to rent their properties for as few as 31 days.

Tuesday, the City Commission postponed plans to reinstitute a 90-day minimum requirement for short-term rentals.

"I am seeing a significant increase in foreclosures in my district," said Commissioner Christopher Leonard, who wanted the limit reduced to 60 days "to enable people to keep their homes."

Community Development director Karl Holley cautioned that such short-term rentals are "inconsistent with maintaining the quality of a single-family resident environment."

Commissioners were concerned, however, that distressed homeowners might need to rent their homes for a shorter term while trying to sell the properties or renegotiate their mortgages.

At the urging of Commissioner Al Halpern, the commission decided to table any rule change for up to a year.

The city's rule used to be no less than 90 days, but that was based on a countywide rule.

When the Pinellas County Planning Council recently changed the county's definition of temporary lodging, allowing short-term rentals of 31 days, the city's definition changed as well.

The only way the city could return to a tougher standard was to approve a new ordinance setting different criteria for temporary lodging.

The tabled ordinance would set a minimum short-term rental period of 90 days for all homes in the RU-1, RU-2, RLM-1 and RLM-2 zoning districts.

The only exceptions would be for homes in special overlay districts where 30-day minimum short term rentals are allowed. Overlay districts exist in Pass-a-Grille and the Upham Beach area.

Now, the shorter-term rentals will apply to all single-family homes.

"Let's see what happens in the next couple of months," said Mayor Michael Finnerty.