Ames, IA Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Chapter 35's Guest Lodging Code places an annual usage ceiling only on the Home Share category of Short-Term Rental, the one used while the property owner is not present in the home. Sec. 35.400(8)(b) provides that Home Shares are limited to a total of 90 days of use as a Home Share per annual registration period, with each guest contract including a period of 30 days or less. Because Sec. 35.500(4)(a) sets the registration term at one year, the 90-day cap resets with each annual renewal rather than accumulating indefinitely.

The 30-day-or-less language also reinforces the base definition of "Short-Term Rental" in Sec. 35.200, which already excludes stays longer than thirty consecutive days from the category altogether. Sec. 35.400(8)(a) separately bars concurrent guest contracts within a single dwelling unit, so an owner cannot run overlapping bookings to multiply the effective days of use beyond the 90-day total. Owners must also keep a registry of guests accommodated during the year under Sec. 35.400(8)(c), which the City can inspect on request, giving the Enforcement Officer a documentary basis to check compliance with the 90-day cap.

Exceeding the cap, like other Chapter 35 violations, can be raised through a verified complaint and used to deny or decline to renew the registration under Sec. 35.500(2)(c)(v), or to revoke or suspend an active registration under Sec. 35.500(6).