Alexandria, VA Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Alexandria's short-term rental permit rules escalate sharply for repeat offenders. Sec. 7-1404(C) provides that failure to obtain a permit at all results in a civil citation under Sec. 11-200, and upon two or more repeated violations of the permit requirement, the operator is barred, after notice, from applying for a permit for that property or offering it as a short-term rental for one full year. Sec. 7-1404(D)(1) separately governs operators who do hold a permit: the director may revoke it with 30 days' notice, or deny a renewal, for an incomplete application, false or misleading information, three or more violations of the same city law within the permit year, or five or more violations of separate sections of city law within the permit year.

The director can skip the 30-day notice entirely and revoke immediately under Sec. 7-1404(D)(2) if a violation endangers the health or safety of the rental's occupants or of neighboring properties; in that case the director must hand-deliver or mail a notice of revocation stating the grounds, the effective date and time, and the appeal procedure, and operation must cease immediately upon receipt. These strike counts run separately from, but interact with, the one-hour complaint-response clock in Sec. 7-1403(H): a failure to correct a reported occupancy, event, or noise violation within an hour is itself logged as a violation that can push the operator toward the three- or five-strike revocation thresholds.