Short-term rental permit rules in Erie, PA — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
Erie, PA does not have a standalone short-term rental ordinance. Hosts who rent dwellings for stays under 30 days are regulated through the city's rental registration and Business Privilege License, applicable zoning, and the Erie County 7% hotel room tax. Pennsylvania has no statewide STR preemption, so Erie may regulate STRs.
Erie is a Third-Class City and its municipal code is hosted on eCode360 (ecode360.com/ER3969). The city has not enacted a dedicated short-term rental chapter, so Airbnb, VRBO, and similar listings fall under overlapping local frameworks. First, owners of residential rental property in Erie must register through the City's rental registration and inspection program administered by the Bureau of Code Enforcement, and renting for compensation requires a Business Privilege License from the City Treasurer. Second, Erie's Zoning Ordinance treats transient lodging as a use that is permitted only in specific districts; pure single-family residential districts generally do not allow tourist or transient occupancy without a special-exception or conditional-use approval. Pennsylvania has not preempted local STR regulation (unlike Florida or Arizona), and recent PA appellate decisions (Slice of Life v. Hamilton Twp. ZHB, 207 A.3d 886 (Pa. 2019)) have held that short-term rentals are NOT a 'single-family residential' use unless local code expressly says so. Practical takeaway: hosts must register the rental, hold a Business Privilege License, verify zoning, and collect the Erie County 7% hotel room tax plus the Pennsylvania 6% state hotel occupancy tax under 72 P.S. §7210.
Operating without rental registration or a Business Privilege License is a code violation enforceable by the Erie Bureau of Code Enforcement, with citation fines escalating with each repeat. Zoning violations carry separate fines under the Erie Zoning Ordinance, and ongoing operation in a non-conforming district can be enjoined in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas.
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