About CityRuleLookup

Why this site exists

Finding out whether you can have a fire pit, park your RV, or keep chickens in your backyard should not require reading 200 pages of municipal code. But for most cities, that is exactly what you are up against. City websites bury the information in PDFs. Legal language makes simple rules unreadable. And Google results are clogged with SEO spam that never actually answers the question.

CityRuleLookup was built to fix that. We take the ordinances that actually matter to homeowners, renters, and landlords, and translate them into plain English. Every page has the key facts, the penalties, and answers to the questions people actually ask.

How we source our data

Every ordinance page on this site is researched from primary sources: city municipal codes, official department websites, council meeting minutes, and direct communication with city offices. We link to the source on every page so you can verify the information yourself.

We verify each entry at least once every six months. When cities change their rules, we update our pages and note the change in the Recent Changes feed.

What this site is not

This is not legal advice. We are not lawyers, and this site is not a substitute for consulting with an attorney. Local ordinances have nuances, exceptions, and enforcement patterns that a summary cannot fully capture. Use this site as a starting point, not a final authority.

We also do not cover every city or every ordinance. We focus on the 100 largest U.S. cities and the eight categories that generate the most questions: noise, short-term rentals, fire regulations, parking, fences, animals, landscaping, and home businesses. We are adding more cities and categories over time.

Found an error?

We take accuracy seriously. If you spot outdated or incorrect information, please submit a correction. We review every submission and update verified corrections within 48 hours.