Des Moines, IA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Des Moines Municipal Code Chapter 60 requires every residential rental unit, including ADUs, to obtain a Rental Housing Permit and pass periodic Housing Inspection Division inspections (typically every 1 to 5 years depending on history). Permit application is filed with Neighborhood Services through Citizen Self Service. Operators of short-term rentals (under 31 days) must comply with Chapter 134 transient occupancy provisions: zoning verification, possible conditional use approval depending on district, and remittance of Des Moines Hotel-Motel Tax (7 percent) plus Iowa Sales Tax (6 percent) and any Polk County local option sales tax. Owner-occupancy ADU rule combined with STR rules effectively limits hosted STRs only - non-hosted whole-home STR of an ADU is incompatible with the owner-occupancy mandate. Long-term tenancies are governed by Iowa Code Chapter 562A (Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act): security deposit cap of two months' rent (Iowa Code 562A.12); 30-day notice for month-to-month termination (Iowa Code 562A.34). Iowa Code 364.3(11), enacted 2018, preempts municipal rent control. Pre-1978 properties (much of Sherman Hill, Drake, East Village) require federal lead-safe disclosures under 40 CFR Part 745.