10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
Neither Fayetteville nor Cumberland County issues a short-term-rental operating permit, and state law bars local permit-to-rent rules. Zoning decides where transient rentals are allowed: whole-house rentals fall under the UDO's 'Tourist Home' use, and bed-and-breakfast inns need a Special Use Permit in single-family districts.
N.C.G.S. § 160D-1207(c)
...adopt or enforce any ordinance that would require any owner or manager of rental property to obtain any permit or permission under Article 11 or Article 12 of this Chapter from the local government to lease or rent residential real property or to register rental property with the local government
Short-term rentals get no noise exemption. Fayetteville City Code Chapter 17 caps residential sound at 60 dB(A) daytime and 55 dB(A) at night, and separately bans unreasonably loud noise from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. near any occupied dwelling. Guests and hosts are equally liable.
Fayetteville City Code § 17-11(16)
Nighttime. Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the creation of any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise in the city between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following morning within 100 yards of a dwelling unit, house, trailer or other building ordinarily occupied by another person... is prohibited.
Short-term rentals in Cumberland County (including Fayetteville) owe a 6% county room occupancy tax on gross rental receipts, filed monthly with the county Tax Administration. State and local sales tax on accommodations also applies. The tax covers any stay of fewer than 90 continuous days.
Cumberland County Room Occupancy Tax Return
TOTAL ROOM OCCUPANCY TAX (Multiply Amount on Line 5 by Tax Rate of 6%)
There is no short-term-rental-specific parking ordinance in Fayetteville or Cumberland County. Guest vehicles follow the same off-street parking standards the Unified Development Ordinance sets for a dwelling, plus the city street-parking and nuisance rules that apply to everyone.
Cumberland County and Fayetteville set no short-term-rental-specific maximum-guest limit. Instead, occupancy is governed by the North Carolina Residential Code (bedroom size and egress) and the general nuisance and noise rules that apply to any dwelling.
Neither Fayetteville nor Cumberland County requires a short-term-rental host to carry a minimum liability insurance policy. North Carolina cities may impose operational STR rules like insurance, but Fayetteville has not enacted one. Carrying adequate coverage is strongly advised but voluntary here.
Cumberland County and Fayetteville place no cap on how many nights a year a short-term rental may operate. The only night-count that matters is the tax threshold: any stay of fewer than 90 continuous days is taxable, and a property rented year-round faces no local night limit.
North Carolina bars local governments from forcing short-term-rental owners to register their property. After Schroeder v. City of Wilmington (2022), a registry, lottery or cap is preempted by G.S. 160D-1207(c). Cumberland County and Fayetteville therefore operate no mandatory STR registration program.
N.C.G.S. § 160D-1207(c)
...except for those individual properties that have more than four verified violations in a rolling 12-month period or two or more verified violations in a rolling 30-day period, or upon the property being identified within the top ten percent (10%) of properties with crime or disorder problems as set forth in a local ordinance
Fayetteville does not require a host to be present during a whole-house short-term rental. The UDO's 'Tourist Home' use allows unhosted transient rentals where the zoning permits. Only a 'Bed and breakfast inn,' the traditionally owner-occupied lodging type, needs a Special Use Permit in residential districts.
Fayetteville and Cumberland County do not require a short-term rental to be the owner's primary residence. Because state law bars a mandatory rental registry, there is no owner-occupancy screen. Where the rental is allowed depends only on the zoning district, not on whether you live there.
1 cities in Cumberland County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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