Middleton, WI Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

60. The license is not a rubber-stamp registration; the same subsection lists what an applicant must submit before the City will issue it. That includes a completed application disclosing the property owner's contact information, the designated operator's contact information, an emergency contact, the period of operation, and room-tax registration information; a floor plan drawn at a minimum scale of one inch to four feet and a site plan at one inch to ten feet showing on-site parking and trash storage; a General Building Code Inspection performed by the City with no outstanding compliance orders; proof of valid property and liability insurance; a copy of the State of Wisconsin Tourist Rental House License; a copy of the Public Health Madison Dane County Tourist Rooming House License; and payment of an administrative fee set annually by the City.

Only a property owner may hold the license, except that a renter may operate a Short-Term Residential Rental if the lease explicitly allows it, and a unit under a condominium association's rules can only operate as an STR if the association explicitly permits it. The license must be renewed every calendar year, and the City can revoke it after more than two violations of the license conditions or the broader Zoning Code.