Medford, MA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Section 94-8.4.4(1) of the Revised Ordinances requires that "a residential unit offered as a short term rental shall be the operator's primary residence," closing off investor-owned, non-owner-occupied short-term rental businesses in the City of Medford. Because the primary-residence requirement does not force the operator to be present every night, Section 94-8.4.5 splits rental availability into two tracks. Under Section 94-8.4.5(2), when the operator is not occupying the unit for the entire term of a booking, that unoccupied-unit rental "shall not exceed, in the aggregate, 90 consecutive or nonconsecutive calendar days per year." The 90-day cap is aggregate, so an operator who travels and rents the whole primary residence in scattered stretches throughout the year still has to stop once the total reaches 90 days.

Registration under Section 94-8.4.13 ties each listing to a specific operator and unit, and a new operator who buys the property must re-register rather than inherit the prior owner's registration, which keeps the primary-residence requirement tethered to whoever is actually living there. The building department's standards under Section 94-8.4.1 apply on top of these residency rules, and Section 94-8.4.7 bars use as a short-term rental while any building, sanitary, zoning or fire code violation remains outstanding.