Short-term rental permit rules in Detroit, MI — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
As of May 2026, Detroit has no separately codified short-term rental ordinance in the Detroit City Code. A draft STR ordinance was released by BSEED on January 3, 2024 and has been discussed by City Council but has not been formally adopted. Until a dedicated STR chapter is enacted, every dwelling unit rented to non-owner occupants - including for any period - is regulated as 'rental property' under Detroit City Code Chapter 8, Article XV (the comprehensively amended Property Maintenance Code Rental Ordinance passed October 29, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, which renumbered the prior Chapter 9, Article I provisions). Operators must obtain a Certificate of Registration and Certificate of Compliance from the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED), and the property must satisfy Chapter 50 (Zoning) use restrictions for the underlying district.
Detroit's regulatory framework for vacation rentals has two layers, neither of which is an STR-specific licensing chapter. First, Chapter 8, Article XV of the Detroit City Code (the Property Maintenance Code Rental Ordinance, comprehensively amended October 29, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025) requires every owner of rental property to obtain a Certificate of Registration before offering the property for occupancy and a Certificate of Compliance before occupancy actually begins. The 2024 amendments renumbered the former Chapter 9, Article I provisions (e.g., former Sec. 9-1-81 became Sec. 8-15-81) and reduced compliance fees from approximately $1,000 in stacked city plus third-party inspector costs to a single $150 annual city fee covering all rental program requirements. BSEED conducts a 15-point property condition inspection, and Certificates of Compliance are valid for three years for residential rental properties. Second, Chapter 50 (Zoning) governs whether the use is permitted at the specific address; lodging-type uses such as 'hotel,' 'motel,' 'bed and breakfast,' and 'rooming house' are defined and assigned to specific districts under Chapter 50, and BSEED's Zoning and Special Land Use Division determines whether transient rental of an entire dwelling is permitted as a principal use or accessory use in residential districts. The January 3, 2024 'Proposed Short Term Rental Ordinance' draft published by BSEED would add a dedicated STR license tier (commonly reported in trade press as a $500 annual fee with a 90-day-per-calendar-year cap and 10-occupant maximum), but until that draft is adopted by City Council and signed into law it is not enforceable; trade-press summaries citing those figures should not be treated as codified law. Operators should also collect the 6% Michigan use tax on stays of less than 30 days under MCL 205.93a (administered by the Michigan Department of Treasury), comply with Wayne County Code requirements for any opt-in convention and tourism assessment for facilities of 35 or more rooms, and confirm with BSEED that the underlying dwelling has both a current Certificate of Registration and a Certificate of Compliance before listing.
Under Detroit City Code Sec. 8-15-82 (formerly Sec. 9-1-82), it is unlawful for any rental property required to be registered to be occupied without a Certificate of Compliance issued by BSEED. Sec. 8-15-36 classifies rental registry violations as blight violations subject to administrative adjudication and civil fines through the City of Detroit Department of Administrative Hearings, including escalating fines for continued unregistered operation. Tenants of non-compliant properties may, under the 2024 amendments, deposit rent into a city-managed escrow account; if the landlord fails to achieve compliance, escrowed funds may be retained by the tenant, and the landlord may not lawfully collect rent for the period of non-compliance. The City may also file liens against the property and refer matters to the Law Department for civil action. Operating a transient lodging use in a zoning district where it is not permitted is a separate violation of Chapter 50 enforceable by BSEED Zoning and the Department of Administrative Hearings.
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