Medford, MA Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Medford Revised Ordinances § 94-8.4.5 splits short-term rentals into two tracks. Under subsection 1, an operator renting bedrooms inside their own occupied residential unit may do so 365 days a year, but one bedroom in that unit must be reserved for, and occupied by, the operator for the entire rental term. Under subsection 2, when the operator is not occupying the residential unit during the entire rental term, short-term rentals of that unit cannot exceed 90 consecutive or nonconsecutive calendar days per year in the aggregate.

Every short-term rental, capped or not, must also be the operator's primary residence under § 94-8.4.4(1), limited to one party of renters at a time (§ 94-8.4.4(2)), capped at six guests or two per bedroom (§ 94-8.4.4(3)), and registered with the building department under § 94-8.4.13 before it can legally operate. Rentals booked for fewer than ten consecutive hours, or by the hour, are barred outright under § 94-8.4.6, as are commercial meetings and uses on the premises. The building department administers day-cap tracking through the registration database and the operator's own retained records under § 94-8.4.9, which must show the number of days per year the unit was offered as a short-term rental. Operators who exceed the 90-day threshold on an unoccupied unit are operating in violation of § 94-8.4.5 regardless of demand or booking-platform availability.