Smyrna, GA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Section 22-344 bars anyone from renting, leasing or otherwise exchanging for compensation all or any portion of a dwelling unit as a short-term rental without first obtaining a short-term rental license and occupation tax certificate from the community development department. The license cannot be transferred, assigned, or used by another person or at another location. A short-term rental unit is lodging provided for a period not to exceed 30 consecutive days (§ 22-343), and short-term rentals are permitted in all residential zoning districts (§ 22-341).

An application is filed annually, under oath, with a non-refundable fee from the city's fee schedule. It lists the owner of record, the unit address, the short-term rental agent's 24-hour contact information, the parking spaces allotted, and the owner's sworn acknowledgement of the chapter (§ 22-345(a)). Attached are the sworn code compliance verification form, proof of ownership, proof of liability insurance of at least $500,000.00, the agent's written certification, and evidence of notice sent by certified United States mail to each contiguous property, or to the homeowner's or condominium association (§ 22-345(b)). The license number appears in every advertisement and listing. Licenses expire on December 31, and a renewal filed by December 15 lets operations continue until it is approved or denied (§ 22-345(c), (d)). The agent must be a natural person over 21 (§ 22-346), and complete applications are reviewed within 30 days (§ 22-347).

Operating limits include maximum overnight occupancy of two persons for each bedroom plus three additional persons, a 180-day annual cap for a unit in a single-family zoning district unless the property is owner-occupied, one license per single-family property, and no license for a single-family property with an active long-term lease (§ 22-348). Long-term multifamily rentals fall under a separate rule: owners receiving income from four or more units need a code compliance certificate covering interior inspections of no less than 20 percent of the units before their initial occupation tax certificate (§ 80-40).