Is short-term rental legal in Washington, DC, DC?
DC licenses short-term rentals at the host's primary residence only: hosted stays are unlimited, whole-home 'vacation rentals' (host away) are capped at 90 nights a year, and a second home has no license path.
Rules checked October 2026
Run the Washington, DC verdict on your facts
| What counts as a short-term rental | DC licenses short-term rentals at the host's primary residence only: hosted stays are unlimited, whole-home 'vacation rentals' (host away) are capped at 90 nights a year, and a second home has no license path. |
|---|---|
| Permit / license | Short-Term Rental License (with Vacation Rental endorsement for unhosted stays) — issued by DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) |
| Fee | License fee about $105 (DC schedule) |
| Renewal | Licenses run 2 years |
| Primary-residence rule | Primary residence only — proven by DC documents; the license is personal to the resident host. |
| Whole-home rental | Whole-home stays are lawful only under the vacation-rental endorsement, up to 90 nights a year; hosted stays are unlimited. |
| Night cap | 90 nights/year (unhosted) |
| Guests / occupancy | Per license conditions |
| Minimum stay | None |
| Zoning | Primary-residence rule is citywide; condo and HOA rules layer privately on top (very common in DC stock). |
| Density / scarcity | No density cap found in the current rules |
| Fines | Unlicensed hosting draws DC fines and license consequences; platforms must verify DC licenses |
| Taxes | DC sales tax on accommodations accompanies the license. |
| Platform duties | Platforms verify license numbers for DC listings. |
| State layer | One regime citywide: a DCRA short-term rental license, primary residence only, with a 90-night yearly cap on unhosted (vacation-rental) stays. |
What trips hosts in Washington, DC
- DC's split — unlimited hosted, 90 nights away — is the model several cities copied; the endorsement checkbox is where hosts accidentally mis-license.
The private layer still applies
These are the city's rules. Your HOA, condo board, lease or mortgage can say no on top of them — that layer is printed as a warning in the checker, never merged into the city's verdict.
Sources: DC Code § 30-201 et seq.; DCMR STR rules · DLCP Short-Term Rental program. Rules checked October 2026.