Grand Forks, ND Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

City Code § 21-1101 defines a hotel/motel as a building, structure, enclosure, or any part of one used, maintained, advertised, or held out as a place furnishing sleeping accommodations to the public for periods of less than thirty days, expressly excluding apartments, dormitories, bed and breakfasts, homeless shelters, and nonprofit charitable shelter facilities. Because that definition turns on stay length rather than building type, a house, unit, or room rented out to the public for stretches under thirty days falls under this article. Section 21-1102 makes it unlawful to lease, rent, offer for rent or lease, or permit to be leased, rented, or offered for rent, any hotel/motel unit within the city without a license.

Under §§ 21-1103-21-1104, an applicant submits a written application naming the applicant, the applicant's residence, the establishment's name and exact location, and whether the applicant has run such a business before; licenses run the calendar year and expire December 31. Section 21-1105 lets the city refuse or revoke a license for disorderly conduct, immoral practices, or violation of any rule under the chapter, and § 21-1106 subjects the operation to inspection to confirm it is run in a lawful, proper, clean, and sanitary manner, with unlawful or unsanitary operation reported to the city council as revocation grounds.

Section 21-1109 leaves the license fee itself, and any related fees, to be set by resolution of the Grand Forks City Council rather than fixed in the code text.