Short-Term Rental Regulations: What You Need to Know

Short-term rental rules come mostly from the city or county, so what you can do depends on the exact address. New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco allow short stays only in the host's own home, while Arizona law bars its cities from banning them. The usual local rules are registration, zoning, a primary-residence requirement, a yearly cap on rented nights, and a limit on guests. A homeowners association or condo declaration can prohibit short stays even where the city allows them.

What local rules usually require

• Registration or a permit. You register with the city before you list, and Los Angeles and San Francisco require the number on every listing. New York City charges $145 plus a processing fee to apply; San Francisco charges $925, which covers two years from approval.
• Zoning. The zoning code decides whether a short-term rental is allowed at the address. Los Angeles allows home-sharing only in zones where housing is allowed without a special zoning approval, and only in space the building department has approved for living in, not a garage or a trailer.
• Primary residence. Some cities limit short stays to the home you live in and set the proof. Los Angeles defines a primary residence as the home you live in more than six months of the year and asks for two documents from its list, such as a county property tax bill showing the homeowner's exemption or an IRS account transcript.
• Night caps. A yearly limit on rented nights, sometimes only on unhosted nights, when you are not home. San Francisco allows 90 unhosted nights a year.
• Guest limits. New York City allows no more than two paying guests at a time. Los Angeles allows two adult guests per habitable room, not counting the kitchen or children under 18.
• Housing that cannot be used. Rent-regulated apartments are a common exclusion: New York City bars them along with public housing, and Los Angeles bars units under its Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
• Private restrictions. HOA covenants, condo declarations, and leases, which the association or landlord enforces rather than the city.

Three cities with strict rules

New York City and San Francisco apply these rules to stays shorter than 30 nights, while Los Angeles also counts a stay of exactly 30 days. In Los Angeles, you can apply for the extended registration after holding a regular one for six months or hosting 60 nights.

State laws that limit what a city can do

Florida law bars local rules that prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how long or how often they are rented, but local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011 still apply. Florida also licenses vacation rentals itself: renting an entire home or condo more than three times a year for stays shorter than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or advertising it as regularly rented to guests, requires a license from the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

Arizona law says a city or town may not prohibit short-term rentals. A city may still require a permit, with a fee no higher than its cost or $250, whichever is less. It may also require an emergency contact who can respond at any hour, notice to neighbors before the first rental, and $500,000 of liability insurance unless the booking platform provides equal or greater coverage.

Both laws limit local governments, not homeowners associations, so read the association's rules as well.

HOA and condo restrictions

An HOA's covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) or a condo declaration can set a minimum rental term, limit how often a home is rented, or ban short stays, and the association enforces them. Whether a new restriction binds owners who bought before it passed depends on state law and the documents. Florida shows how much that varies:

• Florida HOAs: a rental restriction adopted after July 1, 2021 generally binds only owners who consent and owners who buy afterward. A restriction on rentals shorter than 6 months, or a ban on renting more than three times a year, binds every owner.
• Florida condos: an amendment that bans renting, changes the rental term, or limits how often units are rented binds only owners who consent and owners who buy after it takes effect.

Before you buy, get the declaration, bylaws, rules, and recent board minutes, and ask the association in writing whether a rental amendment is pending.

Penalties and platform enforcement

Cities enforce through fines and through the booking platforms:

• San Francisco: a host who keeps renting after the city denies a registration can get a notice of violation with penalties of $484 a day per unit. Platforms must verify that each listing is registered and file a monthly affidavit with the city saying they did.
• New York City: booking platforms may not process transactions for unregistered rentals and must check listings through the city's verification system.
• Los Angeles: a listing without a valid registration number is subject to enforcement, and a host whose registration lapses must take down every listing within 24 hours. The city says a property owner can be held responsible for illegal short-term rentals on the property.
• Arizona: a city can fine an owner up to $500 or one night's rent, whichever is greater, for a first verified violation within 12 months, rising to $1,000 or two nights' rent for a second and $3,500 or three nights' rent for a third or later one. An owner who does not apply for a required permit within 30 days of written notice faces up to $1,000 a month.

How to check the rules for one address

1. Confirm the jurisdiction. Look up the parcel on the county assessor's map to see whether it is inside city limits or in an unincorporated area outside any city, which decides whether the city's or the county's ordinance applies.
2. Read the ordinance and the registration page. Note who is eligible, night caps, guest limits, fees, inspections, insurance minimums, and any cap on the number of permits.
3. Check zoning. Ask the planning department to confirm in writing that a short-term rental is allowed in the zoning district for your situation.
4. Check state law for limits on local rules, as in Arizona and Florida, and for a state license, as in Florida.
5. Get the HOA or condo documents and read every rental provision.
6. Get the owner's written approval if you rent the unit. Los Angeles requires a tenant host to submit the owner's notarized authorization form, and rental arbitrage covers that setup.
7. Register for lodging taxes, which the short-term rental tax guide explains.
8. Read recent city council agendas for proposed changes, and run your numbers under the stricter rule. Analyzing markets for short-term rental investment shows where local rules fit in choosing a market.

If the property already has a long-term tenant, converting a long-term rental to short-term covers ending the tenancy, and starting an Airbnb business covers the rest of the setup once the address allows your plan.