Little Rock, AR Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Liability minimum
- $1,000,000 per occurrence
- Coverage types required
- Homeowner's, fire, hazard, liability
- When required
- With permit/PZD application
- Applies to
- Both STR-1 and STR-2
- Citywide program cap
- 500 active STRs
Summary
Every Little Rock bed-and-breakfast/short-term-rental applicant, STR-1 or STR-2, must submit proof of homeowner's, fire, hazard and liability insurance as part of the development standards package. Liability coverage cannot be written below one million dollars per occurrence, and the proof must be on file before the special use permit or planned zoning district can be granted.
Purpose and intent of this section is to establish development standards for bed and bed and breakfast house/short-term rentals. Compliance with these development standards shall be demonstrated by applicants requesting entitlements for STR type 1 & 2.... (8)Proof of homeowner's, fire, hazard and liability insurance. Liability coverage shall have limits of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) per occurrence.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 83).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 36-603 sets the development standards every STR-1 special use permit application and every STR-2 planned zoning district application must satisfy before entitlement. Subsection (b)(8) requires proof of homeowner's, fire, hazard and liability insurance, with liability coverage limits of not less than one million dollars per occurrence, submitted alongside the rest of the development-standards package described in subsection (a). That insurance proof sits next to the article's other life-safety standards: a scaled floor plan showing certified smoke detectors in every sleeping area and along the egress path (subsection (b)(6)), two means of egress from every sleeping area with one operable window (subsection (b)(7)), carbon monoxide detectors wherever the unit has fuel-fired appliances or an attached garage (subsection (b)(11)), and a five-pound ABC-type fire extinguisher mounted where readily accessible (subsection (b)(12)).
Subsection (b)(9) folds the insurance into the same inspection gate: every operator must also meet the fire prevention code requirements in chapter 12, article II, and pay the annual building-code and fire-marshal inspection fee before the annual business license payment is accepted, so the liability policy, the fire inspection and the license all have to be current together. Sec. 36-603(a)(3) caps the whole program at five hundred active short-term rentals citywide, so the million-dollar liability floor is a fixed cost of entry for every STR-1 and STR-2 operator regardless of unit size.
Violations & Fines
An STR-1 or STR-2 application that lacks proof of the required homeowner's, fire, hazard and liability coverage, or that shows liability limits below one million dollars per occurrence, does not satisfy the Sec. 36-603 development standards and cannot be approved by the planning commission or board of directors. Letting the policy lapse after entitlement leaves the operator out of compliance with the standards the permit was granted under.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much liability insurance does a Little Rock short-term rental need?
Does the insurance rule apply to non-owner-occupied STR-2 rentals too?
What other safety proof gets submitted with the insurance documents?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Little Rock
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