New Bedford regulates short-term rentals through Chapter 9 (Comprehensive Zoning), Section 3400 of the Code of Ordinances. The local ordinance caps overnight occupancy at no more than nine guests at any one time and limits a host to renting no more than three bedrooms. Operators are also bound by the Massachusetts STR registry under MGL c.64G and the State Sanitary Code (105 CMR 410).
New Bedford addresses short-term rentals in Chapter 9 (Comprehensive Zoning), Section 3000 (General Regulations), specifically Section 3400 of the Code of Ordinances. The ordinance treats an STR as a residential use carrying both a numeric guest cap and a structural limit on how many sleeping rooms may be offered: no more than nine people may rent the accommodation at any one time, and an operator may rent out no more than three bedrooms in the dwelling unit. The ordinance is owner-occupancy based - the host must live in the accommodation for at least nine months of the calendar year - which functionally restricts entire-home rentals when the operator is absent. As part of registration, the host must submit a property maintenance plan that includes a floor plan, the number of permitted overnight guests, parking arrangements, garbage disposal, tenant management, and a local point of contact for complaints. Layered on top of the local cap, every New Bedford STR operator must register with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue STR Registry under MGL c.64G and MGL c.62C, Β§67, and the unit must comply with the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410, which sets minimum sleeping-room floor areas of 70 square feet for one occupant and 50 square feet for each additional occupant in a habitable room used for sleeping. Bedrooms must also satisfy 780 CMR (the Massachusetts State Building Code) emergency-egress and minimum-dimension standards. Where a New Bedford property would exceed three rented sleeping rooms or four or more unrelated lodgers, the lodging-house statute (MGL c.140, Β§Β§22-32) is triggered and a separate municipal lodging-house license is required.
Hosting more than nine overnight guests, renting more than three bedrooms, or operating without the required New Bedford STR registration and maintenance plan are violations of Chapter 9, Section 3400. Enforcement is administered through the Inspectional Services and Planning and Development Departments and may include cease-and-desist letters, registration revocation, and non-criminal-disposition fines under MGL c.40, Β§21D. Failure to register with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue under MGL c.64G subjects the operator to state penalties under MGL c.62C, Β§67 and platform delisting under MGL c.64G, Β§13.
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