10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Erie County, New York.
Verified from official government sources
Erie County does not issue short-term-rental permits. In New York, STR permitting and land use are town and city matters, so your local municipality (Buffalo, Amherst, and others) controls whether a permit is required.
Erie County Comptroller — Hotel Tax Instructions and Registration
Every hotel operator must file a Certificate of Registration within three (3) days after the opening of the business or their acquisition of the hotel. The requirement applies to operators of hotels, apartment hotels, motels, boarding houses or clubs, a short term rental or vacation rental, and other buildings regularly used for guest lodging. Upon receiving a completed registration, the Comptr...
Erie County does not set noise limits specific to short-term rentals. Noise at rentals is governed by town and city noise ordinances and the state and local peace laws, not by the County.
Erie County levies a hotel occupancy (bed) tax of 3% on lodging with 30 or fewer rooms, including short-term rentals, and 5% on lodging with more than 30 rooms, on stays under 30 consecutive days.
Erie County Local Law No. 12-1974 — Hotel Occupancy Tax
The rate of three percent (3%) is to be charged and paid upon the rent for every occupancy of a room in a hotel with 30 or less rooms. The rate of five percent (5%) is to be charged and paid upon the rent for every occupancy of a room in a hotel with more than 30 rooms. The tax applies to hotel, motel, and short term rentals to persons who are in residence for periods of less than thirty (30) c...
Erie County has no countywide parking requirement for short-term rentals. Off-street parking standards for rentals are governed by town and city zoning codes, not by the County.
Erie County imposes no countywide guest or occupancy limit on short-term rentals. Occupancy caps, if any, are set by your town or city zoning and the applicable New York building and fire codes.
Erie County does not require short-term-rental operators to carry specific liability insurance. Any insurance requirement comes from town or city licensing codes, not from the County occupancy-tax law.
Erie County imposes no cap on the number of nights a short-term rental may operate. The occupancy tax applies to stays under 30 consecutive days, and any night limit comes from town or city rules.
Erie County has no land-use registration for short-term rentals, but every STR operator must file a Certificate of Registration with the Erie County Comptroller within three days of opening for hotel occupancy tax purposes.
Erie County does not require a host to be present during a short-term-rental stay. Any host-presence or local-contact rule comes from town and city licensing, not the County.
Erie County does not require a short-term rental to be the operator's primary residence. Owner-occupancy rules are set by town and city codes, and some, like Buffalo, distinguish owner-occupied from non-owner-occupied rentals.
1 cities in Erie County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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