Cincinnati, OH Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)

Chapter 856 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 0125-2019 effective July 1, 2019, places compliance duties directly on the online platforms that list short-term rentals, not just the hosts. Section 856-23(a) requires every hosting platform through which a Cincinnati short-term rental is listed, advertised, solicited, or otherwise held out for rent to report to the city manager or designee, on a quarterly basis, three data points: the total number and location of short-term rentals listed on the platform during the reporting period, the total number of nights each listing was rented to guests, and the total tax collected and remitted by the platform during that period.

Section 856-23(b) separately requires the platform to build a field into its listing interface so operators can enter their short-term rental registration number, the same number Section 856-9(b) requires on every advertisement. The two obligations dovetail with the excise-tax duty in Section 856-21, which makes hosting platforms 'independently responsible for ensuring that the short term rental excise tax is withheld and paid' on behalf of operators renting through the site, tying the platform's quarterly report directly to the tax revenue the city expects to collect.

Enforcement runs through Section 856-25(e), which treats a platform's failure to comply with Section 856-23 as a civil offense escalating with each day of noncompliance after formal notice.