Treat long-term tenancy and short-term lodging as separate uses. A dwelling that can be occupied or rented under one rule is not automatically eligible for stays booked by the night or week. Short-stay rules may be administered through zoning, a lodging bylaw, a registration or business-licence system, or a combination of them.
Check the unit, place, and type of rental
Start with the exact address and the authority that regulates it. Confirm that the unit is legally established and approved for occupancy, then check the local definition of a short-term stay. The cutoff varies. Rules may distinguish a room from an entire unit, a principal residence from a second home, or a secondary suite from a detached accessory dwelling. “ADU” and “secondary suite” may also have different definitions within the same jurisdiction.
Next check the required permission and operating conditions: registration or licence, owner or host eligibility, principal-residence proof, number of nights, permitted bedrooms, guest limits, inspections, display of a registration number, and renewal dates. Check whether a permit applies to the property, the operator, or both. A city registration does not replace land-use approval, building and fire requirements, a landlord’s agreement, or any applicable tax and insurance obligations.
Local examples show why these steps matter. Toronto requires operators to select an entire-unit or partial-unit registration type; its current guidance limits entire-unit rentals to 180 nights per calendar year and sets separate conditions for partial-unit rentals. British Columbia’s principal-residence rule applies only in specified areas and allows the principal home plus one secondary suite or ADU under its provincial framework, while local governments may be more restrictive. Provincial registration is a separate requirement: an ADU or secondary suite offered for short stays generally needs its own registration even if the main home is registered. See the B.C. registration guide for unit, fee, and renewal rules. Washington’s ADU regulation allows local governments to restrict short-term rentals even though it bars a local owner-occupancy requirement for ADUs. These rules answer different questions and apply only within their own jurisdictions.
New York City draws an important line between hosting from the home where the permanent occupant lives and renting another whole unit. An ADU owner who lives in the main home cannot use the separate ADU for short-term stays. A permanent ADU tenant may be able to register and host up to two guests in the same unit as the host, subject to the City’s registration rules. See the NYC ADU short-term-rental guide and verify the current registration route for the address.
Local licensing conditions can also depend on the unit, operator, and approval history. Seattle says most operators may license their primary residence and one secondary unit; an ADU or detached ADU is a separate unit and needs its own licence. Los Angeles’s Home-Sharing guidance requires a qualifying ADU host to use the unit as a primary residence and have a certificate of occupancy, while the Housing Department says Home-Sharing is not allowed in an ADU or JADU subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Oakland’s overview describes long-term ADU rental at 30 days or longer with a business licence and an owner-residence rule for its single-family JADU pathway. These are distinct municipal checks; none establishes ordinary tenancy or short-stay permission in another city.
San Bruno ties short-stay treatment to when an ADU was legally established: its City guidance distinguishes units established before September 25, 2020 from later units, and states different owner-residence and rental-duration conditions. Tacoma’s summary says an owner must occupy either the primary dwelling or ADU to operate a short-term rental. Check each City’s current rules and the unit’s permit history before applying either example.
Oregon law also treats a defined vacation occupancy as a distinct local-regulation question. For qualifying ADUs covered by ORS 197A.425, ordinary reasonable siting and design rules cannot include owner-occupancy or additional off-street parking requirements, while the statute preserves local authority over “vacation occupancies” as defined in ORS 90.100. That defined term has conditions of its own; it is not simply every booking below a chosen night limit. See the Oregon guide before treating an ADU rule as a general short-term-rental rule.
Check other conditions that follow the unit
Some restrictions arise from a benefit or approval rather than from the general rental code. A fee waiver may bar short stays for a defined period. A funding agreement can require owner residence or affordable rents. A recorded covenant may set a minimum lease term. A short-term-rental permit can have an owner-residence condition even where ordinary long-term rental is treated differently.
For example, Phoenix states that an owner must live on site when an ADU is used as a short-term rental, and describes an additional attestation for certain applications tied to the ADU’s certificate-of-occupancy date. That is a city short-stay rule, not a general Arizona rule for all ADUs. Read the actual current ordinance, licence conditions, recorded instruments, and program terms for the property.
Arizona separates two state-law questions: qualifying municipalities cannot prohibit certain separately leased long-term ADUs or require a prior relationship between occupants, while a city or town may adopt an owner-residence condition for short-term rentals at an ADU only within a certificate-date boundary. The Arizona guide explains why the long-term leasing protection does not resolve the local short-stay rule. In Rhode Island, the state statute separately prohibits transient or hosting-platform ADU rentals; Vermont allows municipalities to regulate short-term rentals differently from residential rentals. Neither state’s ADU pathway alone establishes a local short-stay licence.
Washington, D.C. treats an ADU as part of the host’s primary residence for short-term-rental licensing only when the property owner qualifies for the District’s Homestead Tax Deduction. That tax-status test is a conditional licensing definition, not proof of zoning or building approval. NYC’s Local Law 80 of 2026 creates a separate, narrow rental path for a cellar ADU in a newly constructed one- or two-family home only when the unit meets the Building Code definition and has a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate; see the NYC cellar-ADU guide. The law does not authorize short-term rentals.
San Mateo’s code sets a 30-consecutive-day minimum for ADU and JADU rentals. Unincorporated Miami-Dade County uses a different distinction: a paid ADU rental must last at least one month, while a guesthouse may not be rented separately from the principal dwelling; see the County guide. The County rule does not apply inside incorporated municipalities.
Honolulu illustrates a different condition: its Department of Planning and Permitting says an ADU must be rented for at least six months, and that a recorded covenant runs with the land and prevents the ADU from being sold separately. This is a local ADU rental and title condition, not a general minimum lease term for other places. The property’s ADU classification, recorded covenant, and current ordinance determine whether and how the rule applies; see the focused Honolulu guide for the local details.
Additional local pathways
Portland has local Type A and Type B ADU short-term-rental pathways, and an ADU system development charge waiver can restrict short-term rentals across the property for ten years. See the Portland guide.
In the B.C. Agricultural Land Reserve, the short-term-accommodation route depends on whether a unit is a principal residence, a suite within it, or an additional residence. See the ALR guide.
Phoenix states a separate owner-residence condition for ADUs used as short-term rentals; see the Phoenix guide.
A California junior ADU follows a different state rule: shared sanitation can trigger owner occupancy, and rental terms must exceed 30 days. See the California JADU guide.
Before relying on a rental answer
Ask the authority to confirm the exact unit classification, licence route, effective date, and whether the intended rental duration is covered. Check the permit and occupancy history; a rental licence alone does not prove construction approval. If a long-term lease is planned, review the applicable tenancy rules separately. If the unit is in a condominium or subject to an HOA, inspect its governing documents too. Keep a dated record of each authority’s answer because rental frameworks and local opt-in decisions can change.