Corpus Christi, TX Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

Sec. 5-42(2) of the Code of Ordinances lists insurance as one of the mandatory general standards applying to every short-term rental permitted under Chapter 5: 'The applicants shall keep, at a minimum, an insurance policy sufficient for personal injury liability of guests.' The city does not print a dollar minimum in the code text; the standard is a floor of coverage 'sufficient' to answer a guest personal-injury claim, and the director of development services can treat an unsupported or lapsed policy as a failure to meet the general standards.

The insurance duty is tied directly to the permit process. Under Sec. 5-39(a)(4), an applicant for a short-term rental permit must submit 'a sworn, self-certification that the owner of the short-term rental has met and will continue to comply with the standards and other requirements of this article including, but not limited to: maintenance of insurance coverage of the unit or portions thereof.' That certification is filed with the one-time application: fifty dollars in 2022, two hundred fifty dollars for any permit issued after calendar year 2022, per Sec. 5-39(d).

Because insurance is a Sec. 5-42 general standard, failing to keep the required policy in force is enforceable the same way as any other general-standards violation: as a strict-liability offense under Sec. 5-45, punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars per day, and as grounds for permit suspension or revocation under Sec. 5-47 if the lapse recurs. A revoked permit cannot be reissued for the same property for twelve months.