Wichita, KS Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)

Wichita Municipal Code Sec. 060 sets three distinct advertising and licensing offenses that reach both the owner and any other person, which the Chapter defines to include Hosting Platforms and Booking Services. 00 per dwelling unit or structure, with a separate license required for each unit. Subsection (b) reaches the advertising itself: it is unlawful for an owner, responsible party, or other person to advertise, in any medium including Hosting Platforms, Booking Services, newspapers, magazines, brochures, websites, or mobile applications, the use of any structure as a Short-Term Rental that is not properly licensed.

Subsection (c) adds a second, narrower offense for units that are licensed: advertising them without including the current license number assigned by the Licensing Department is separately unlawful, so a licensed host who omits the license number from a listing is still in violation even though the rental itself is legal. Sec. 030 defines a Hosting Platform as any person or entity that collects a fee for booking services through which an owner offers premises to a guest, which sweeps in the major short-term rental marketplaces operating in Wichita.

Under Sec. 170(a)-(d), the Zoning Administrator enforces these advertising offenses by written notice, with a 30-day compliance period before penalties attach for most violations under this section, after which a violation becomes a misdemeanor.