West New York, NJ Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Chapter 380A defines PERMANENT RESIDENTS in § 380A-1 as a person who occupies a dwelling unit or accessory building or structure for at least 60 consecutive days, with intent to establish that unit as his or her primary resident, and who can be an owner or a lessee. The definition of VACATION RENTAL then applies to a rental for exclusive transient use of 30 consecutive days or less regardless of whether one of the dwelling unit's permanent residents is on site, in the dwelling unit, throughout the visitors' stay. The text names no hosted-stay exception.

The definition also reaches partial rentals. It lists any dwelling unit, accessory building or structure, garage, attic, or basement, in whole or in part, and any furniture within them. A host who rents a spare room, an attic or a basement while living in the unit is renting part of a dwelling unit. The test that closes the definition is that the unit is only approved for permanent residential occupancy and not approved for transient occupancy by the chapter. The only carve-out printed is for units within Town-approved hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts.

The preamble in § 380A-0.1 explains the Board of Commissioners' concern in terms of rentals where residents rent out entire units to visitors and are not present during the stays, and it says occupants of such rentals, when not hosted, have no connections to the Town community. The operative definition is broader than that concern: the on-site resident language is in the definition itself, and § 380A-2 bars any person from undertaking, maintaining, authorizing, aiding, facilitating or advertising a vacation rental activity that does not comply with the Code. Penalties are in § 380A-4.