Executive Summary
Santa Barbara's City Council unanimously approved rules that push STRs out of inland residential neighborhoods starting January 2027, allowing them only in housing inside commercial zones. Each owner gets one STR with a two-night minimum, and city staff expect to lose nearly $3 million a year in revenue in a city with more than 2,300 active listings. Hillsborough County, Florida starts annual registration on January 1 with a $200 fee and a one-hour response rule for about 3,000 properties. Idaho went the other way, as a new state law wiped out Sandpoint's cap of about 35 neighborhood STRs, and the mayor says the city no longer regulates them at all. In Las Vegas, a federal appeals court ordered a narrower version of the injunction that has blocked Clark County from fining illegal STRs since December, which could reopen the county's license portal. Dunes City, Oregon votes November 3 on banning new STRs and requiring on-site hosts for existing ones.
New Regulations
Santa Barbara, California
Zoning / Licensing · Published October 7, 2026
Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved separate inland and coastal STR ordinances, with the inland rules taking effect in January 2027 and allowing STRs only in residentially permitted structures in commercial zones that allow housing, not in residential zones or high-fire areas, while the coastal rules still need California Coastal Commission approval. Each owner would be limited to one STR with a two-night minimum, trusts and corporations could not operate them, and ADUs and units rented to a long-term tenant in the past two years would be excluded, with city staff estimating a loss of nearly $3 million a year in revenue in a city with more than 2,300 active listings.
→ Source: Santa Barbara City Council Supports New Rules for Short-Term Rentals
Hillsborough County, Florida
Registration / Licensing · Published October 7, 2026
Hillsborough County's short-term rental ordinance takes effect January 1, 2027, requiring annual registration with a $200 fee and a responsible person available 24/7 who can respond to problems within one hour. Owners must also give guests the local rules on noise, parking, trash, and recycling, and a resident who helped develop the ordinance estimates it will cover about 3,000 properties and collect roughly $600,000 in its first year.
→ Source: Addressing concerns over a new ordinance for Florida short-term rentals
Sandpoint, Idaho
Zoning / State Preemption · Published October 12, 2026
Idaho House Bill 583, signed earlier this year, requires short-term rentals to be treated the same as long-term occupied homes, which wiped out Sandpoint's cap of about 35 STRs in neighborhoods and the waiting list that came with it. Mayor Jeremy Grimm said the city no longer regulates STRs at all, meaning "every house in Sandpoint could be turned into a short term rental."
→ Source: Short-term rentals no longer regulated in Sandpoint under new Idaho law
Developing Regulations
Clark County, Nevada
Legal / Enforcement · Published October 9, 2026
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a federal court to narrow the injunction that has blocked Clark County from issuing fines and citations for illegal short-term rentals since December, after homeowners and Airbnb sued over the county's rules. The case goes back to District Court, and the judges indicated the county could reopen its STR license application portal once the order is narrowed, with applicants possibly exempt from certain penalties while their applications are under review.
→ Source: Court order barring short-term rental crackdowns must be narrowed, appeals court says
Dunes City, Oregon
Licensing / Ballot Measure · Published October 12, 2026
Dunes City voters will decide Measure 20-386 on November 3, which would ban new short-term rentals and require existing ones to meet stricter rules at their annual permit renewal, including an on-site host, a one-hour response to complaints, and compliance with HOA rules. Violations could bring fines or permit revocation, and the measure would take effect 30 days after passage, with any future changes requiring another public vote.
→ Source: Dunes City voters to decide whether to increase regulation of short-term rentals
Westfield, Indiana
Licensing / Permitting · Published October 13, 2026
Westfield City Council postponed an October 12 vote on an ordinance that would require STR permits with a one-time $150 fee and an emergency contact, and would let the city temporarily revoke permits from owners who rack up citations for noise, parking, maintenance, and similar issues. Renting without a permit would bring a Class C infraction for each rental transaction, and councilors said they intend to approve the revised ordinance when it returns November 9, with the rules taking effect in January.
→ Source: Westfield council postpones short-term rental vote
Arlington, Texas
Enforcement / Occupancy · Published October 6, 2026
Nearly 30 West Arlington residents formed Woodland West Watchers to track homes they say break the city's STR and occupancy rules, which cap single-family homes at four unrelated residents, and the city confirmed two Yellowstone Drive properties without STR permits have each received two citations. Council member Bowie Hogg said the city has identified 30 to 50 potentially illegal rentals, some converted into eight-bedroom rooming houses, and a city committee is weighing a one-lease-per-house rule and a rental registry for properties with major violations.
→ Source: Arlington neighbors form watch group to crack down on illegal home rentals
