Grand Rapids, MI Short-Term Rentals: Extended Home Share (2026)
Key Facts
- License type
- Class B Home Occupation license
- Who issues it
- City Clerk
- Applies to
- renting a room by night or week
- Citywide cap
- 200 licenses at any one time
Summary
Renting a room in your Grand Rapids home by the night or week requires a Class B Home Occupation license from the City Clerk before you advertise or host guests.
No person shall operate any Class B or Class C Home Occupation business unless a license therefore has been obtained as provided for in this Chapter. No person shall advertise any portion of a dwelling unit or rental by the night or by the week, unless that person shall have first obtained a Home Occupation license as provided for in this Chapter.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 70).
Full Breakdown
Grand Rapids treats a home-share -- renting out part of a dwelling by the night or week -- as a Class B Home Occupation. City Code § 7.643 bars operating a Class B or C Home Occupation, or advertising any portion of a dwelling by the night or week, without a Home Occupation license issued by the City Clerk. The license runs through Chapter 116 (§ 7.640 et seq.); Class A occupations (no lodging) don't need one, but any short-term room rental does, and citywide only 200 of these one-room-rental licenses can be active at once.
Violations & Fines
Advertising or operating an unlicensed room rental violates Chapter 116, § 7.643; the City Clerk can also suspend or revoke an existing license under § 7.648 for code violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I rent a spare room in my Grand Rapids home short-term without a license?
Is a whole-house short-term rental treated the same way?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Grand Rapids
Compare Grand Rapids to another location·View the Michigan short-term rentals overview
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