Battle Creek, MI Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Chapter 818 limits how long a guest can stay, not how many people can sleep in a unit. Section 818.15(o) provides that no permittee shall allow any transient guest to obtain accommodations for more than twenty eight consecutive days in a ninety consecutive day period, except as provided in § 818.16. The chapter covers hotels, motels and tourist homes, which § 818.03(i) defines to include any building or structure where sleeping or rooming accommodations are furnished for rent. The right to occupy an accommodation also cannot be assigned or transferred without the permittee's express written consent.

Section 818.16 opens the door to longer stays under conditions. The accommodation must include a City approved kitchenette, defined in § 818.03(j) as a sink, cooktop, cabinets or storage shelves, a counter or table, and a refrigerator, all in good repair. The exception is a corporate long-term stay or a disaster stay requested under a written agreement with an employer, business or insurance company, where the permittee gives the City proof of the agreement and proof that its franchisor allows long stays but prohibits adding a kitchenette. In that case no food preparation can take place in the unit except what a permittee-provided microwave oven can do.

Reporting follows. Under § 818.16(b) the permittee reports to the City quarterly, on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, the number of accommodations used for more than ninety consecutive days, with arrival and departure dates and times (without identifying information) and a description of the unit: its dimensions, kitchenette and appliances, bathroom and number of beds. Under § 818.16(c) the permittee keeps the name and address of every guest staying more than ninety days, including non-paying minors and dependents, for one year from departure, and discloses it to the City only on a search warrant, subpoena or court order.

Any room occupied more than ninety days is considered a residence and is open for inspection by the Police, Fire and Building Departments and any other city department, with a fee assessed to recoup inspection costs (§ 818.16(d)). Related headcount rules sit in § 818.15: one toilet and washing facilities with a shower or bathtub for every eight or fewer occupants, and a register noting the total occupants when at least two persons share a room.