Spring Hill, TN Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

The Spring Hill Municipal Code does not tell a host to live on the property. It requires a designated short-term rental agent who can get there fast. Section 20-508(A) lets the owner designate an agent on the permit application. The owner can serve as agent, or can name a person who is over age 18 and meets all local and state regulatory requirements. The owner is the default agent when no one else is named. Section 20-502 defines the agent as a natural person responsible for daily operations who is available for and responsive to contact at all times and who is customarily present at a location within Spring Hill, Tennessee, for purposes of transacting the short-term residential rental business.

The duties in § 20-508(B) are four: be reasonably available to handle problems from use of the rental; appear on the premises within four hours following notification from the city of issues related to use or occupancy; receive and accept service of any notice of violation or notice of hearing; and monitor the rental for compliance with all laws, including the hotel-motel tax under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-4-1401, et seq. The four-hour clock covers unreasonable noise or disturbances, disorderly conduct, and violations of city code or other law on noise, disorderly conduct, overcrowding, consumption of alcohol, or use of illegal drugs.

Only one agent can be designated for a property at any given time (§ 20-508(C)). To change agents, temporarily or permanently, the owner notifies the city Development Services Office in writing of the new agent's identity, with the information the chapter requires. The permit posted inside the unit lists the name, address, telephone number and email address of the owner and the agent (§ 20-503(A)). Section 20-505(B) prints separate application fees for owner-occupied ($150) and non-owner-occupied ($300) rentals. Under § 20-508(D), certain limited provisions of the agent section are not applicable or not wholly applicable to a non-conforming short-term rental under Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-7-603(a).