Plain-language, ordinance-first
Guides
The questions behind the verdicts — residency rules, the lease gate, caps, the private layer, enforcement, and buying.
The Primary-Residence Rule: The One Line That Decides Most Cities
Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, DC — the biggest STR regimes in America all ask the same question first: do you live there?
Renting Out a Place You Rent: The Lease Gate
City permission and lease permission are two different doors, and the lease is the one that can evict you.
Night Caps, Guest Caps, Minimum Stays: Reading the Numbers in a Rule
120 in Los Angeles, 90 in San Francisco and DC, 60 in Jersey City — caps are where legal hosts quietly become illegal ones.
The Private Layer: HOAs, Condo Boards, Leases and Mortgages
The city can say yes four times and a one-page HOA rule can still say no. Here is how the private layer works — and why we print it as a warning, never a verdict.
How Cities Actually Find Illegal Listings
Platform data-sharing, registration rolls, neighbor hotlines and per-day fines — the enforcement machine, explained plainly.
Buying a Place to Rent Short-Term: Screen the Address Before the Offer
The permit map is part of the property. A general method for screening any address — zoning, caps, phase-outs and the private layer — before money moves.