Under DC's Short-Term Rental Regulation Act of 2018, a unit listed on Airbnb, VRBO, or similar platforms must be the host's primary residence — investor-owned ghost listings are flatly prohibited.
DC Code 36-301.01 et seq. limits short-term rentals to a host's primary residence, defined as the dwelling where the host lives at least 183 days per year. Hosts must register with DCRA (now DLCP), obtain a Short-Term Rental license, and provide proof of residency such as a DC driver's license, voter registration, or tax filings. Second homes, pied-a-terres, and investor-owned units cannot be licensed as STRs. The rule was enacted to protect long-term housing stock from being absorbed into the transient rental market in a tight DC housing economy.
Operating a non-primary-residence STR is unlicensed activity subject to civil fines, license denial, and revocation of any existing rental endorsement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Washington, DC
Washington DC does not regulate lawn ornaments on private property through a specific ordinance. Statuary, religious displays, and decorative landscape eleme...
Washington, DC
Washington DC has no city ordinance specifically regulating inflatable holiday displays on private property. The primary city concerns are (1) public-space e...
Washington, DC
The District of Columbia does not impose specific install-by or take-down-by dates for holiday lights on private property. City-wide regulation is limited to...
Washington, DC
Washington DC requires Department of Buildings (DOB) permits for built-in outdoor kitchens that involve gas line installation, electrical work, plumbing, or ...
Washington, DC
Washington DC has no smoker-specific ordinance, but smokers and wood-fired ovens are open-flame cooking devices subject to IFC Section 308.1.4 in multi-famil...
Washington, DC
Washington DC adopts the International Fire Code (IFC) as the DC Fire Code (12-G DCMR). IFC Section 308.1.4 prohibits charcoal and other open-flame cooking d...
See how Washington's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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