Short-Term Rentals in Camden County, MO (2026)

Permit Requirements

Camden County, Missouri (the heart of the Lake of the Ozarks vacation market) does NOT issue a county-wide short-term rental (STR) permit or business license. After a March 2022 circuit court ruling (Camden County, Mo. Cir. Ct., Judge Matt Hamner) that read R-1 zoning under the Camden County Unified Land-Use Code (ULUC) as prohibiting nightly rentals, the Camden County Commission convened on March 25, 2022 and directed county counsel to amend the ULUC to expressly add a definition of "short-term rental" (rental of less than 30 days) and to clarify that STRs are permitted in residential zones provided they remain a residential use. Outside the ULUC zoning regime, the only mandatory recurring obligations for Camden County STR operators are (1) Missouri sales tax registration with the Department of Revenue under Chapter 144 RSMo (the 4.225% state sales tax plus the Camden County local sales tax) and (2) historically the Lake of the Ozarks Tri-County Lodging Association (TCLA) lodging tax of 3% in Camden County under former RSMo 67.1170-67.1180. On June 25, 2024, in Griswold v. Tri-County Lodging Association (SC100166), the Missouri Supreme Court held RSMo 67.1170, 67.1175, 67.1177, and 67.1180 unconstitutional in their entireties for transferring public tax revenue to a private advisory board, and ordered all collection across Camden, Miller, and Morgan counties to stop and the lodging districts dissolved. As of late 2025 the Missouri legislature has not passed replacement authorization, so the historical 3% TCLA lodging tax is no longer enforceable on Camden County STRs. Incorporated cities inside Camden County (Osage Beach, Lake Ozark, Camdenton, Sunrise Beach, Linn Creek) administer their own zoning and tax rules separately.