Executive Summary
Riverside County, California finalized enforcement rules that suspend a short-term rental certificate after three citations and start revocation after five, and code officers no longer have to give owners 60 minutes to fix a complaint before showing up. Folly Beach, South Carolina voted 4-1 to freeze new STR licenses for six months after a court struck down its old limits and 73 applications came in over 12 days; the pause runs to February 19. Corpus Christi, Texas paused new Type 1 permits through November while keeping its 15%-per-block cap, a rule one developer says could cost him $20 million. Richardson, Texas let its moratorium expire, so the new $300 registration fee and 500-foot spacing rule between rentals are now in effect. A federal court in Minnesota sided with Bloomington and Apple Valley against an owner who put $80,000 into two homes for Airbnb use, confirming cities can enforce STR limits without paying owners. Westerly, Rhode Island, Brewster, Massachusetts, and Bel Aire, Kansas are all drafting new rules, while Lake Worth Beach, Florida is going the other direction and weighing whether to end its ban.
New Regulations
Riverside County, California
Enforcement / Licensing · Published August 26, 2026
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously finalized amendments to Ordinance No. 927 on August 25 that let the county suspend a short-term rental certificate after three citations and start revocation after five, and it scrapped the 60-minute window owners used to have to resolve a complaint before code officers could show up. Two officers will work out of the Palm Desert and San Jacinto offices from 7 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday, and the county plans a public map of STR complaints and enforcement actions modeled on San Bernardino County's.
→ Source: Riverside County Adopts Stricter STR Enforcement Rules
Folly Beach, South Carolina
Moratorium / Licensing · Published August 26, 2026
Folly Beach City Council voted 4-1 on August 26 to halt new short-term rental licenses for six months while it studies its STR ordinance, after a court ruling struck down the city's license limits and 73 new applications poured in following the August 14 order. Renewals, medical-hardship and inheritance licenses, and anyone who applied before August 26 are exempt, waitlisted applicants can still get licenses if active investment permits drop below 800, and the pause ends automatically February 19 unless the study finishes sooner.
→ Source: Folly Beach Passes 6-Month Short-Term Rental Moratorium
Corpus Christi, Texas
Moratorium / Permitting · Published August 25, 2026
Corpus Christi's city council voted to stop issuing new Type 1 short-term rental permits through November while officials review the city's STR rules. The council kept its cap limiting short-term rentals to 15% of the properties on a block, and one local developer said the STR rule could cost him about $20 million.
→ Source: Corpus Christi Pauses New Short-Term Rental Permits Through November
Richardson, Texas
Fees / Density · Published August 28, 2026
Richardson's temporary freeze on short-term rental registration expired Monday, August 25, and the ordinance amendments the City Council approved in July are now in force: the annual registration fee rises from $100 to $300, and no new short-term rental may open within 500 feet of an existing one. The city enacted the May moratorium to use new software to inventory STRs, flag health and safety issues, and check whether rentals were clustering in neighborhoods.
→ Source: STR Temporary Moratorium Expired this Week
Minnesota (statewide)
Legal / Zoning · Published August 27, 2026
A federal court upheld short-term rental restrictions in Bloomington and Apple Valley, ruling against a property owner who spent about $35,000 renovating a Bloomington home and $45,000 on an Apple Valley home to run them as Airbnb and Vrbo rentals. The decision affirms that cities can impose STR limits and zoning-based rules, including minimum-stay requirements, without owing owners compensation.
→ Source: Federal court upholds cities' short-term rental restrictions
Developing Regulations
Westerly, Rhode Island
Zoning / Licensing · Published August 25, 2026
The Westerly Town Council voted 4-2 on August 17 to fold Newport's short-term rental ordinance into its own draft amendment and to allow unhosted short-term rentals only inside a coastal village overlay district, pushing Airbnb-style rentals away from inland neighborhoods. The council president and an STR working group backed the move, two members objected that they were voting without seeing the documents, and officials say more meetings, revisions, and public input are still to come.
→ Source: Westerly Council Takes Another Shot at Short-Term Rental Regulations
Brewster, Massachusetts
Registration / Fees · Published August 26, 2026
Brewster has released a final draft of short-term rental regulations after three public hearings, with the Select Board set to vote on them at its August 31 meeting. The rules would require every STR to register and pass inspection under state law for a $300 annual fee starting in January, with certificates good through year-end and renewable before November 1, and renewals blocked for open building, sanitary, zoning, or fire code violations or unpaid taxes; deed-restricted affordable units could not be converted to STRs.
→ Source: Brewster To Charge $300 For Short-Term Rental Registration
Bel Aire, Kansas
Licensing / Permitting · Published August 24, 2026
The Bel Aire City Council is weighing draft rules that would require an STR permit and an annual business license fee for each unit rented for 28 consecutive days or less, with a 14-day-per-year exemption for occasional rentals. The draft also covers gathering and parking limits, in a Wichita suburb with roughly 11 Airbnb and four Vrbo listings.
→ Source: Bel Aire considers new short-term rental regulations
Lake Worth Beach, Florida
Zoning / Ban · Published August 27, 2026
Lake Worth Beach is considering ending its ban on Airbnb and Vrbo short-term rentals, a move that would let hundreds of rentals already operating in the city do so legally. Residents opposed to the change have demanded that Commissioner Segrich recuse himself from the vote because he owns a short-term rental.
→ Source: Lake Worth Beach considers ending ban on Airbnb, Vrbo rentals
