Cumberland County, ME Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Cumberland County publishes no code of ordinances and operates no zoning program, so it has no authority to and does not impose any cap on the number of nights per year a property may operate as a short-term rental. The Maine Legislature has also not enacted any statewide STR night-cap statute; the only state-level STR rules are tax-collection rules in Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 36 §1811 (9% lodging tax on rentals of living quarters) and §1754-B (marketplace facilitator collection). Night caps and density limits exist only at the municipal level within the county. Portland Code Ch. 6 Art. IX caps the number of non-owner-occupied STR registrations citywide (an annual lottery system was instituted for non-owner-occupied units) and limits non-owner-occupied STRs on the Portland Peninsula. South Portland's STR ordinance (Code Ch. 22) distinguishes between Tier 1 (host-occupied) and Tier 2 (non-host-occupied) and caps the number of Tier 2 permits per district. Brunswick and Bridgton restrict STRs in their primary residential zones via overlay rules. Properties in the shoreland zone under Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 38 §435 face additional limitations because nonconforming structures cannot expand to add rental capacity. Because there is no county-wide rule, an STR in unincorporated land or in any municipality without a local STR ordinance faces NO night cap.