How to read a US city STR permit ordinance, using Nashville's code

What to take away

Pull the ordinance yourself

The listing agent will not hand you the code. Pull the section that defines a short-term rental from the city code portal or the permits department, because that definition controls everything downstream.

Start at the municipal code, not a blog summary. Search the city site for the business license or permit chapter, then find the article naming short-term rentals, vacation rentals or transient accommodations.

Nashville gathers its permit documents in one place on the codes publications list.

Read definitions before operating rules. A city may define a short-term rental as any stay under 30 days, or under 14, or exempt stays booked through a licensed property manager. That one line decides whether your business model is regulated at all.

Then find the permit section. It lists who may apply, which documents are required, how long the permit lasts and what fees apply.

Austin's development services page shows how a large city organizes permit types, including short-term rental permits, which helps you spot the same structure in a smaller city on the types of permits page.

Check adopted codes too. Building, fire and property maintenance codes limit occupancy, bedroom counts and fire separation, and those limits cap how many guests you may host. Nashville publishes an adopted codes list showing which editions are in force.

Federal rules rarely govern STR permits directly, but they shape the reporting and payment side of rental income. The Federal Register business section tracks rule changes that reach platform payments and income reporting.

A city permit does not replace a state license. Run the license requirements check alongside the city code read, because each has its own renewal cycle.

Before you go further, write down three references: the ordinance in force with its code section, the permit types and who may hold them, and the enforcement route, meaning how permits are revoked and where complaints and appeals go. Everything else in due diligence hangs on those three. The Nashville section below fills them in.

Permit caps, lotteries and waiting lists

A permit cap is a hard ceiling on active short-term rental permits in a city or a zone. Once the cap fills, the city stops issuing permits, and property quality will not move you up any list.

Caps take several forms. Some apply citywide, some only in certain council districts, and some cover non-owner-occupied units while leaving owner-occupied rentals open. Read which category the cap covers before assuming a permit is available.

Lotteries appear when demand exceeds the cap. The city opens a window, collects applications, then draws names or ranks applicants by a scoring system. A lottery win is not a permit: you still pass inspection and pay fees inside a deadline.

Waiting lists are the quiet version of a cap. The city stops accepting applications and tells you to check back, or it keeps a queue that moves only when a permit holder sells, dies or lets a permit lapse. Ask the permits office for the current queue length in writing.

Verify cap status yourself. Call the permits department, give the parcel address and ask two questions: is a short-term rental permit available for this address today, and how many permits are active against the cap. Get the answer by email.

Watch for caps that bind at the neighborhood level. A citywide count can look healthy while the overlay district you are buying into is full. This is common in tourist cores and near convention centers.

A full cap does not make the property useless. An existing permit may transfer with the sale, which turns the deal into a purchase of the permit as much as the building. Confirm transferability in the ordinance before you price the offer.

A pre-purchase licensing and compliance guide maps the cap rules against the state license, so you are not solving half the problem.

Zoning overlays and non-owner-occupied rules

Zoning decides where a short-term rental may operate. The base zone sets the broad use, and overlays add restrictions on top. A property can be legal in its base zone and still barred by an overlay.

Overlays carry names like historic district, conservation district, transit-oriented district or neighborhood conservation overlay. Each can add a conditional use requirement, a distance separation rule or a ban on non-owner-occupied rentals.

Non-owner-occupied rules hurt investors most. A city may allow short-term rentals only in a host's primary residence, or cap the nights an absentee owner can rent. Read the occupancy requirement line by line.

Distance separation rules limit how close one short-term rental can sit to another. In a dense neighborhood, one nearby permitted unit can disqualify your address. Check the permit map, not just the zoning map.

Some cities require a conditional use permit or special exception for short-term rentals in residential zones. That process means a public hearing, neighbor notice and a vote, which adds months and political risk to your timeline.

Historic districts add a design review layer. Signage, exterior changes and parking arrangements may need approval, and the review board can attach conditions that cut guest capacity.

Run the address through the city's zoning and permit map before you tour. If the map shows an overlay or a permitted rental inside the separation distance, treat the deal as unavailable until the city confirms otherwise.

A disciplined site selection process puts zoning and overlay checks ahead of price negotiation, which is the order that saves deposits.

Renewal terms, inspections and revocation triggers

A permit is a lease on your right to operate, and it expires. Renewal terms tell you how often you reapply, what fee applies and whether the city can refuse renewal without cause.

Look for the renewal window. Cities often require renewal 30, 60 or 90 days before expiration, and a missed window can mean starting over as a new applicant, behind the cap and the waiting list.

Inspection requirements vary. Some cities inspect every year, some every two or three years, and some only on complaint. Annual inspections mean recurring cost and a standing risk of failing on a minor item.

Revocation triggers are the events that end a permit. Common ones include repeated noise complaints, operating without a valid license, failing to display the permit number in listings, and exceeding occupancy limits.

Some ordinances use a points system, where each violation adds points and a threshold triggers suspension or revocation. Read the point schedule and the reset period, because a busy property accumulates points quickly.

Transfer rules matter at resale. If the permit does not transfer, you are buying cash flow only, not the operating right. If it does transfer, the buyer may still reapply inside a short window.

Build renewal dates into your calendar before closing. A compliance checklist with renewal dates, inspection dates and fee deadlines prevents the most expensive administrative mistake in this business.

Check the parcel's permit history at this step. Nashville publishes Davidson County property permit history showing past permits and inspections tied to an address.

Nashville, Denver and Charleston compared

Nashville

Nashville regulates short-term rentals through its Metro Code, with separate treatment for owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied units. The rules have changed more than once, so read the current version rather than an old summary.

Here is what the three references look like for Nashville.

Ordinance and code section. The city's own summary says that in Nashville and Davidson County, the law requires that anyone wishing to rent a property on Short Term Rental Property (STRP) websites must receive a permit from the Metro Codes Department prior to listing, and it points to Metro Code §6.28.030 as the short-term rental code of law. Metro's legislative history names Ordinance BL2024-478, effective November 12, 2024, as the current law governing short term rental properties, and lists the state Short-Term Rental Unit Act at Tennessee Code Annotated 13-7-601 to 13-7-606. The same summary states that the owner shall not receive compensation for an occupancy of less than twenty-four hours, that the maximum stay for any guest is thirty consecutive days, and that the permit holder must remit business, sales and hotel occupancy taxes to the city and state.

Permit types. Metro issues owner-occupied and not owner-occupied permits. LLCs, corporations, trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other entities are ineligible for owner-occupied permits. New not owner-occupied permits are not permitted in AR2A, R, RS or RM zoned properties; they are issued only as a use permitted with conditions in listed mixed-use, office, commercial and downtown districts. Existing holders in those residential zones may be eligible for renewals, but those permits are not transferable if the property is sold.

Fees and renewal. Metro's STR permit FAQ states that the permit fee is $313, due when the application is approved, and that a permit may be renewed each year by submitting a $313 permit fee, proof of current property insurance and proof of Hotel Occupancy Tax payment. Permits are valid for 365 days. Renewal notification emails go out at 60 and 45 days before expiration with a link to the renewal affidavit, and the permit is not renewed until payment is made.

Enforcement. Metro's operation rules and requirements state that a permit may be revoked upon determination of three violations of any ordinance or law of general application, or if the application contained false or misleading information. A permit cannot be transferred or assigned, and a change in ownership, including from a person to a trust or LLC, cancels it. Complaints about illegal rentals, noise, parking and trash go through hubNashville, and appeals from the zoning administrator's decisions go to the Short Term Rental Appeals Board.

Metro Codes handles permits and inspections, and the publications list is the fastest route to the current application packet. Before making an offer in Davidson County, pull the parcel's permit history and confirm whether an active permit exists. A clean history is easier to keep compliant than a lapsed or revoked one.

Denver

The Denver and Charleston notes below are summaries of how those systems are built, to show the contrast with Nashville; run the same three-citation read on each city's own code before relying on them.

Denver requires a short-term rental license for stays under 30 days and ties eligibility to the property being the host's primary residence. That rule limits the standard investor model, because you generally cannot run a non-owner-occupied short-term rental there.

The license renews annually, and the city requires the license number on listings. Denver also limits the number of licenses tied to one person or address, which affects operators who want to scale. Verify occupancy before you buy: a Denver property marketed as a short-term rental investment may only qualify if you live in it, which changes the underwriting.

Charleston

Charleston splits short-term rentals into categories, including accommodations in commercial or mixed-use areas and those tied to a host's primary residence. The city has tightened its rules over time, and the category that applies depends on zoning.

Charleston also runs a license and inspection process with fees and renewal cycles. Historic districts cover much of the peninsula and add design and use restrictions that can rule out investor use in otherwise attractive locations.

Read the ordinance next to the zoning map for the specific parcel. In Charleston, a property a few blocks away can fall under a different regime, so neighborhood-level checks are not optional.

Across all three cities the pattern holds: primary residence rules, caps, renewal cycles and overlay districts decide the deal. The differences live in the details, and the details live in the ordinance text.

A pre-purchase permit due diligence sequence

Work through these steps in order and stop as soon as one fails. Each step costs less than the one after it.

Keep the findings in one place:

If the ordinance blocks the intended use, walk away before spending on inspections and appraisals. If it allows the use, price the permit risk into your offer and keep renewal dates visible.

The guide to finding the right site covers the screens that come before a purchase contract.

Common questions

Can I rely on the listing agent's statement that a property is short-term rental approved?

No. Agents repeat what sellers tell them, and permit status changes with caps and renewals. Verify with the city permits office and the parcel's permit history before you remove contingencies.

What if the city has a permit cap and the list is full?

An existing permit that transfers with the sale may still let you operate. Confirm transferability in the ordinance and get the city's answer in writing, because a lapsed permit can leave you with no operating right.

Does a state license replace a city short-term rental permit?

Usually not. Many states require a separate license or registration, and cities require their own permit on top. You need both, and each has its own renewal cycle.

How often do these ordinances change?

Often enough that a summary older than a year is unreliable. Read the current code and check the city's permit page for recent amendments before you make an offer.