Royal Oak, MI Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Section 104.8 of the Property Maintenance Code, added and amended at § 556-4.A of the Royal Oak City Code, sets the same occupancy formula twice: once as a registration disclosure and once as an ongoing operating rule. At the application stage, § 556-4.A(3)(d) requires the owner to state the maximum number of occupants the unit will be rented to, capped at two occupants per bedroom plus two additional occupants per finished story meeting the egress requirements of the Michigan Residential Code, and that stated maximum must equal the number advertised and listed in the rental agreement.

Section 556-4.A(4)(c) repeats the identical cap as a continuing duty for all residential rentals in the City of Royal Oak, so a host cannot advertise a higher headcount than the registration allows once a booking is underway. Bedrooms and finished stories are measured against the square-footage and bedroom-count data the owner already had to submit under § 556-4.A(3)(b), giving the Code Official a paper basis for checking a listing against the physical unit. The same section also bars occupancy of any attic or basement bedroom unless it was built under a recorded City permit and meets the Michigan Residential Code and Fire Code, at § 556-4.A(4)(d), closing off unpermitted bonus bedrooms as a way to inflate a short-term rental's advertised capacity.