Yakima does not impose a city-specific STR insurance dollar amount. Instead, every short-term rental operator in Washington - including Yakima - must comply with RCW 64.37.050, which requires the operator to maintain primary liability insurance to cover the short-term rental dwelling unit in the aggregate of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000), or conduct each short-term rental transaction through a platform that provides equal or greater primary liability insurance coverage. Operators applying for Yakima Planning Division land use review must demonstrate insurance compliance, and the policy must respond to claims arising from STR use specifically (standard homeowners policies typically exclude commercial short-term-rental use).
Washington's Short-Term Rental Act (RCW Chapter 64.37, enacted 2019) is the operative source of STR insurance requirements in Yakima. RCW 64.37.050 provides that 'a short-term rental operator must maintain primary liability insurance to cover the short-term rental dwelling unit in the aggregate of not less than one million dollars or conduct each short-term rental transaction through a platform that provides equal or greater primary liability insurance coverage.' The $1,000,000 minimum is per-operator (aggregate), not per-incident, and is treated as primary - it responds first, ahead of any other policy. Yakima city code does not lower or raise that amount; YMC 15.04.120 and 15.09.080 incorporate the statewide framework by requiring operators to provide state and federal business registration documentation and to comply with applicable state law. Standard homeowners and landlord policies typically exclude commercial short-term-rental use (transient lodging), so most operators must either (1) purchase a stand-alone short-term-rental policy or short-term-rental rider, (2) purchase a commercial general liability policy with a hospitality endorsement, or (3) book exclusively through a platform that provides primary host liability coverage (Airbnb's AirCover Host Liability Insurance and Vrbo's Liability Insurance both provide up to $1,000,000 of primary liability coverage that satisfies RCW 64.37.050 when applied to platform-booked stays - but does not cover direct bookings made outside the platform). Operators should document policy declarations pages or platform coverage confirmations and present them to the Yakima Planning Division at land use review and to the Yakima City Finance Department at business-license renewal upon request. Additional Washington statutes layer on related coverage: RCW 64.37.030 (consumer safety) requires CO alarms compliant with RCW 19.27.530, and operators are also liable for injuries caused by failure to maintain those alarms.
Failing to maintain $1,000,000 primary liability insurance (or equivalent platform coverage) is a violation of RCW 64.37.050 enforceable by the Washington Department of Revenue and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner under their respective authorities; platforms registered under RCW 64.37.040 may also delist properties without proof of compliance. From the city side, falsifying insurance-compliance representations on a Yakima land use application or business-license application is grounds for denial, revocation, or non-renewal under YMC Title 5 and Title 15 enforcement provisions. Operating without coverage exposes the operator personally to uninsured liability for guest injuries, property damage, and third-party claims; standard homeowners policies typically deny coverage for incidents arising from undisclosed commercial transient occupancy, leaving the operator with personal asset exposure for the full amount of any judgment.
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