Seattle, WA Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Chapter 6.600 of the Seattle Municipal Code, enacted by Ordinance 125490 in 2017, regulates every dwelling unit offered for lodging use for fewer than 30 consecutive nights within Seattle city limits. SMC 6.600.040.A makes it unlawful for any person to operate as a short-term rental platform in Seattle without a valid platform license, and SMC 6.600.040.B makes it separately unlawful for any person to operate as a short-term rental operator within the City without a valid operator license. The license is issued by the SDCI Director on an application in a Director-prescribed format under SMC 6.600.050, and an operator applicant must also submit a signed declaration of compliance attesting that the dwelling unit satisfies the operational standards in SMC 6.600.070, covering everything from local-contact availability to smoke detector and liability-insurance requirements.

Platforms have a parallel duty under SMC 6.600.060 to require any operator using the platform to either apply for a license through the platform or post an existing license number in every listing, and platforms must remove any listing the Department flags as noncompliant. Separate from the operator license, bed and breakfast operators who advertise on a platform need their own bed and breakfast operator license under SMC 6.600.040.C. All three license types, platform, operator, and bed and breakfast, expire exactly one year from issuance and must be renewed annually under SMC 6.600.050.D.

An operator license costs $75 per dwelling unit each year and a bed and breakfast license costs $75 per unit, both payable at the time the application is submitted, under SMC 6.600.090.