New Berlin, WI Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

Wisconsin Statute 66.1014 (the 'right to rent' law) prevents New Berlin from banning short-term rentals of seven days or longer but expressly preserves the city's authority to enforce noise, parking, and health-and-safety ordinances against operators and their guests. New Berlin regulates short-term lodging through City Ordinance Section 152.24 (Transient Commercial Lodging), which requires every transient/short-term lodging property to hold a city-issued license and to comply with all city ordinances, including Chapter 171. Chapter 171 of the New Berlin Municipal Code prohibits any loud, disturbing or unnecessary sound that may tend to annoy or disturb a person of ordinary sensibilities in or about any public street, alley or park or any private residence. Unlike many Wisconsin cities, New Berlin does not publish numeric A-weighted decibel caps or fixed quiet-hour windows in Chapter 171; enforcement instead relies on the reasonable-person nuisance standard, which means amplified music, loud parties, fireworks-style noise, or shouting from an STR can be cited at any hour if a New Berlin Police officer or neighbor finds it disturbing. New Berlin also limits sleeping quarters in a transient/short-term rental to the principal structure (no sleeping in detached accessory buildings), caps maximum occupancy at the lower of Wisconsin Administrative Code ATCP 72.14(2)(b) or 20 people, and requires the property owner to be reachable 24/7 in the event of complaints. Hosts cannot rely on Chapter 171 alone for guest expectations; many New Berlin neighborhoods are large-lot single-family residential, and one loud cookout can generate police calls under Chapter 171.