Short-Term Rentals

About Short-Term Rentals

A short-term rental (STR) is any dwelling unit rented for less than 30 calendar days. All short-term rentals must obtain a Business Registration (Business License) and a Residential Short-Term Rental Permit or a Non-Residential Short-Term Rental Registration, depending on zoning. The Short Term Rental Ordinance (14-6.2(A)(5) and (A)(6) SFCC 1987) also regulates:

• How often the unit can be rented
• How many guests may occupy the unit
• Providing off-street parking spaces
• Notification of neighbors by mail when a permit is approved
• Providing a 24-hour phone number for neighbors to reach the owner or manager with complaints
• Payment of applicable taxes, including state gross receipts tax and city lodgers' tax
• Including the city permit number in all advertising
• Compliance with covenants that prohibit short-term rentals

City regulations cap the number of short-term rentals at 1,000 units in residential zoning districts.

Click here to view the short-term rental map.

Short-term rental staff is available by phone and email Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Office visits require an appointment. Please call to schedule.

The online Citizen Self-Service portal is available to process applications for new short-term rental permits and renewals. 

2021 Short-Term Rental Ordinance

The Governing Body approved a new Short-Term Rental Ordinance on December 9, 2020, that went into effect on January 1, 2021. All short-term rental owners and operators are responsible for understanding and following the new rules and regulations outlined within the ordinance. For questions regarding the new short-term rental regulations, please get in touch with the Short-Term Rental Office at 505-955-6687 or shorttermrental@santafenm.gov.

Click Here to see a list of FAQs 

The new ordinance includes the following major changes:

• Adopts a city-wide maximum of one thousand (1000) short-term rental permits on the residentially zoned property;
  • There is no limit on the number of registrations that can be issued for non-residentially zoned properties. All short-term rental units require a business license.
• Prospectively limits the number of short-term rental permits to one per natural person for residentially zoned properties;
  • A natural person is defined as "an individual human being, as opposed to an organization of any form or a business entity." While the short-term rental permit must be issued to a natural person, the property does not need to be owned by a natural person.
  • Permits cannot be transferred with the sale of a property or to another person. Permits may be transferred to a spouse or a domestic partner upon the death of the permit holder, but only if the surviving spouse or domestic partner does not already hold a permit.
• Prospectively limits the proximity of short-term rental units for residentially zoned properties;
  • Residentially zoned: A short-term rental unit cannot be within 50 feet of an existing short-term rental unit, measured at the property boundary. For apartments, condos, or other multi-unit developments with four or more units, no more than 25% of the units can be rented as a short-term rental. Multi-unit dwellings with three or fewer units are subject to the 50-foot rule. No more than 12 permits will be issued for a single multi-unit dwelling structure.
  • Non-residentially zoned: No more than 12 registrations will be issued for a single multi-unit dwelling structure.
• Requires a local operator for short-term rental units;
  • The local operator must be able to be physically present at the short-term rental unit to respond to emergencies and complaints within 1 hour of receiving the complaint.
• Adopts record-keeping and reporting requirements for short-term rental owners and host platforms.
  • Owner/operators must keep records from the three most recent years, and these records must be available for review by the City upon request. Records must include the following:
  • Residentially zoned: date of each reservation and the number of nights per reservation; the amount of rent paid by guests per month; and the amount of each type of tax and fee paid to the City by the month.
  • Non-residentially zoned: the amount of rent paid by guests per month; and the amount of each type of tax and fee paid to the City by the month.
• Please note: In residential zones, a unit may only be rented once in a seven-day period. The seven-day rule does not apply from November 15 to January 15.
• The owner/operator must post the permit or license number on all advertisements for the short-term rental unit, including on host platforms (e.g., Airbnb, VRBO). The host platform must remove the listing within five days if a permit or registration is invalid.

The City also has a contract with Host Compliance. This service helps the City collect information from online host platforms and assists the City in implementing and enforcing its regulations.

Helpful Short-Term Rental Program Forms

Short-Term Rental Ordinance

Short-Term Rental Fire Inspection Requirements

Short-Term Rental Public Notification & Mailing List

Renewals

All short-term rental permits expire on December 31 each year. 

The deadline for renewals of existing STRs each year is 5:00 pm April 15.

Renewal season takes place from January 1 through April 15. During that period, we accept only renewal applications. Applications for new permits will be accepted starting at 5:00 pm on April 15 each year.

Attention permit holders: Please take a moment to log into your CSS account and verify that we have your current and correct email address. We email all renewal reminders, invoices, and permits to the email address you provided to us, and if it is outdated or incorrect in the system, you may miss a reminder and lose your permit.

If you are having issues submitting your STR Renewal Application using the online CSS portal, please contact our office via email at shorttermrental@santafenm.gov, so we have a timestamped record of your attempt to renew prior to the deadline. Phone calls to the STR office will not be accepted for documentation purposes.

• If you do not apply for renewal by 5:00 pm, April 15, your permit will expire and will no longer be valid.
• If your permit expires and you re-apply, your application will be subject to several new provisions of the recently updated STR Ordinance (Ord. 2020-35). Among other changes, the revised ordinance states that newly issued permits shall be limited to one per natural person and that the City will not issue a new permit for a short-term rental unit if the subject property is located within a fifty-foot radius of a residentially zoned property that has a permitted short-term rental unit. 

The STR Office offers online submittals of both new applications and renewals. 

The CSS portal is available for STR renewals. The CSS site does not support the Safari browser. Please use Google Chrome or Firefox when accessing the CSS website.

Click Here to access CSS to create an account and process a new or renewed STR permit.

Click Here to see detailed instructions for renewing existing STR permits via CSS. Please use Google Chrome or Firefox when accessing the CSS website. The CSS site does not support the Safari browser.

CSS Registration and Renewal Instructions

If you have questions regarding the CSS portal, please contact shorttermrental@santafenm.gov or call 505-955-6687.