Short-Term Rentals in Franklin, TN (2026)

10 verified short-term rentals rules for Franklin, Tennessee, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.

Verified from official government sources

Permit Requirements

Operating a short-term vacation rental (STVR) inside the City of Franklin requires a use permit issued under the Franklin Zoning Ordinance administered by the Building and Neighborhood Services Department (109 3rd Avenue South, 615-791-3217). Franklin's current framework allows only owner-occupied STVRs in residential zoning districts for any new permit issued after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen's December 2019 ordinance, which banned non-owner-occupied short-term rentals citywide as a residential-use protection. Only one STVR is permitted per lot. Legacy non-owner-occupied STVRs that were legally permitted and operating before the ordinance's effective date are protected by the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act (TCA 13-7-602 to 13-7-606), but that grandfathering ends if the property is sold, transferred outside family, ceases STVR use for 30 continuous months, or accumulates three or more violations of generally applicable local laws.

Franklin TN Short-Term Vacation Rental Permit Required; Owner-Occupied Only for New STVRs in Residential Zones; One STR Per Lot

Heavy Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Noise Rules

Franklin does not codify a separate decibel table or quiet-hours schedule that applies only to short-term vacation rentals; STVR guests are subject to the citywide general noise prohibition in the Franklin Municipal Code (Title 11 General Offenses) and to the disturbing-the-peace standards enforced by the Franklin Police Department. The functional teeth on STVR noise come from two parallel mechanisms: (1) the use-permit compliance condition that requires the operator to manage guest behavior and respond promptly to complaints, and (2) the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act provision at TCA 13-7-603 that strips legacy grandfather protection from any STVR that accumulates three or more violations of generally applicable local laws - which includes noise citations. Operators should post 10 p.m.-7 a.m. quiet hours in house rules and use noise-monitoring devices to avoid the three-strike risk.

Franklin STVR Guests Subject to Citywide Noise Ordinance (Title 11 General Offenses); Three Violations of Generally Applicable Laws Voids Legacy STR Protection

Some Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Taxes & Fees

Short-term vacation rentals in Franklin TN collect a four-layer tax stack on every reservation of fewer than 30 continuous days: 7% Tennessee state sales tax under TCA 67-6-202, 1.5% Tennessee state hotel/motel privilege tax, 4% Williamson County hotel/motel occupancy tax administered by the Williamson County Business Tax Department (615-790-5732), and 4% City of Franklin hotel-motel tax under Title 5 of the Franklin Municipal Code, for a combined approximate burden of 16.5% on each STVR stay. Operators also pay a $15 city business license registration fee per property. Marketplace facilitators (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com) are required under Tennessee law (effective January 1, 2021) to collect and remit the state sales tax, state privilege tax, and local hotel-motel tax on platform-booked stays directly to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, which then disburses local-tax revenues to Franklin and Williamson County. Direct (off-platform) bookings remain the operator's full responsibility.

Franklin STR Tax Stack: 7% TN State Sales Tax + 1.5% TN State Privilege Tax + 4% Williamson County Hotel-Motel + 4% Franklin City Hotel-Motel + $15 City Business License (Total ~16.5%)

Heavy Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Parking Rules

Franklin's short-term vacation rental compliance program requires adequate off-street parking for all guest vehicles as a condition of the use permit and the 12-month compliance certificate; the standard is verified by Building and Neighborhood Services compliance inspectors at the time the permit is issued and at annual renewal. Franklin does not publish a specific per-bedroom off-street parking ratio in its zoning ordinance for STVRs (unlike some other Middle Tennessee jurisdictions); instead, the inspector confirms that the property has enough on-site parking to accommodate the maximum guest occupancy without forcing guests to spill onto neighborhood streets. Guests are subject to citywide on-street parking restrictions; persistent guest-parking complaints can be cited at certificate renewal and count toward the three-strike legacy-termination threshold under TCA 13-7-603(a)(3) for non-owner-occupied legacy STVRs.

Franklin STVR Must Provide Off-Street Parking Sufficient for Guest Vehicles; Verified at Compliance Inspection by Building and Neighborhood Services

Some Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Occupancy Limits

Franklin's short-term vacation rental program does not impose a flat citywide guest headcount but caps occupancy through three intersecting standards verified at compliance inspection: the bedroom count of the dwelling as legally permitted (no marketing of non-bedroom rooms as sleeping space), septic-system capacity where applicable, and life-safety equipment (smoke detectors in each bedroom and on each floor, fire extinguishers, and code-conforming egress from each rented bedroom). Only one STVR is permitted per lot - operators cannot subdivide a parcel into multiple separately-permitted STVRs. The compliance certificate states the property's maximum permitted occupancy; exceeding it is a use-permit condition violation that can trigger non-renewal and, for non-owner-occupied legacy STVRs under TCA 13-7-603, counts toward the three-strike legacy-termination threshold.

Franklin STVR Occupancy Limited by Bedroom Count, Septic Capacity, and Life-Safety Inspection; One STR Per Lot

Some Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Insurance Requirements

Franklin requires proof of insurance as a condition of the short-term vacation rental compliance certificate; the operator must provide documentation of property and liability insurance covering the STVR activity to the Building and Neighborhood Services Department at initial permitting and annual renewal. Franklin does not publish a specific minimum dollar amount in its STVR ordinance (unlike Nashville's framework or some other Tennessee jurisdictions), but the policy must demonstrably cover paid short-term rental activity - which means a standard ISO HO-3 homeowner's policy without a home-sharing or short-term-rental endorsement will not satisfy the requirement because the policy's business-pursuits exclusion voids coverage for paid rental. Industry-standard practice for Franklin operators is a $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 commercial STR liability policy or a dedicated STR endorsement on the homeowner's policy. Platform host-protection programs (Airbnb AirCover, VRBO Liability Insurance) are typically treated as supplemental, not primary.

Franklin STVR Compliance Certificate Requires Proof of Insurance; No Specific Dollar Minimum Codified But Liability Coverage Verified at Inspection

Some Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Night Caps

Franklin does not impose a fixed annual cap on the number of nights a licensed short-term vacation rental may host. There is no '90-day,' '120-day,' '113-day,' or '180-day' booking limit codified in the Franklin Zoning Ordinance or the STVR compliance program. A property with a current use permit and 12-month compliance certificate may book up to 365 nights per year provided the operator continues to satisfy the owner-occupancy rule (for new residential-zone permits issued after December 2019), the one-STVR-per-lot rule, occupancy/parking/insurance/septic conditions, citywide tax obligations, and the no-violation backstop. Scale is controlled instead through (1) the owner-occupancy requirement that anchors the operator to the property, (2) the categorical one-STVR-per-lot rule, (3) annual compliance-certificate renewal, and (4) the TCA 13-7-603(a)(3) three-strike rule that terminates legacy non-owner-occupied protection on three local-law violations.

No Annual Night Cap on Franklin TN STVRs; Scale Controlled Through Owner-Occupancy Rule, One-Per-Lot, and Three-Strike Legacy Termination

Few Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Registration Rules

Registering a short-term vacation rental in Franklin is a multi-step process administered by the Building and Neighborhood Services Department (109 3rd Avenue South, 615-791-3217) in coordination with the Franklin Finance Department, the Williamson County Business Tax Department, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Required steps: (1) confirm zoning eligibility and owner-occupancy where applicable; (2) submit STVR use-permit application to Building and Neighborhood Services; (3) pass compliance inspection covering life-safety, parking, septic where applicable, and insurance verification; (4) receive 12-month compliance certificate (annually renewable); (5) obtain $15 city business license; (6) register for City of Franklin 4% hotel-motel tax under Title 5; (7) register with Williamson County Business Tax Department for 4% county hotel-motel tax (615-790-5732); (8) register with Tennessee Department of Revenue for 7% state sales tax and 1.5% state privilege tax.

Franklin STVR Registration: Use Permit + Compliance Inspection + 12-Month Compliance Certificate + $15 Business License + Multi-Layer Tax Registration

Heavy Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Host Presence Rule

Franklin's December 2019 ordinance effectively imposed a strong host-presence requirement on new short-term vacation rentals in residential zoning districts: the dwelling must be owner-occupied, meaning the homeowner must reside at the property. This is among the strictest host-presence frameworks in Middle Tennessee - it does not merely require a local contact, an in-state agent, or hosted operation during stays; it requires the operator to live at the dwelling as their residence. The rule does not apply to legacy non-owner-occupied STVRs that were permitted and operating before the December 2019 effective date and that remain protected under the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act at TCA 13-7-603, but those legacy operators are a fixed and shrinking inventory (no new ones are permitted, and existing ones lose protection on sale or non-family transfer).

Franklin Effectively Requires On-Site Host Presence for New Residential-Zone STVRs Through Owner-Occupancy Mandate (December 2019 Ordinance)

Heavy Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Primary-Residence-Only Rule

Franklin's December 2019 STVR ordinance effectively imposes a primary-residence-only restriction on all new short-term vacation rentals in residential zoning districts: the homeowner must reside at the dwelling, which functionally limits eligibility to the operator's primary or principal residence. Investment properties, second homes, vacation properties not used as a primary residence, and LLC-owned dwellings without a resident owner are all ineligible for new STVR permits in residential zones. Only one STVR is permitted per lot, preventing portfolio scaling on a single parcel. Legacy non-owner-occupied STVRs that pre-date the December 2019 ordinance remain protected under TCA 13-7-603 as long as they remain in compliance and do not trigger termination (sale to non-family, 30-month operational gap, three local-law violations). This framework places Franklin among the strictest primary-residence-only markets in the South, comparable to Boston, Denver, and San Francisco.

Franklin TN Effectively Primary-Residence-Only for New STVRs: Owner Must Reside at Dwelling; Investment Properties Banned in Residential Zones Since December 2019

Heavy Restrictions

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Looking for Williamson County county-wide rules?

County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Franklin city rules.

Short-Term Rentals in Williamson County →