Brookhaven, GA Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Renewal is where Brookhaven's repeat-violator rule bites. Under Sec. 27-629(3)(e), every short-term rental permit must be renewed on an annual basis, and at renewal the City manager or a designee conducts a reasonable search of the city's records to determine whether the applicant's property has been the subject of two or more citations and/or violations of the City Ordinance in the preceding 24 months. If the search reveals two or more, the permit may not be renewed. The test looks at the property, not just the host, and the wording refers to violations of the City Ordinance rather than only the short-term rental section. That matters because subsection (3)(d) also subjects every short-term rental to the nuisance and noise regulations of chapter 16 and to the transient occupancy tax rules of chapter 24.

Renewal is also the moment records come due. Hosts keep guest-stay records, including dates, guest counts, costs and taxes, for two years after the end of the calendar year of each stay, and provide them on renewal or whenever the City asks. Each owner must also give the enforcement official access to the rental and its books, records and tax returns during normal business hours. A host must show the current permit number on every listing.

Enforcement reaches the booking platforms too. A booking service must remove a listing after the City notifies it that the host lacks a valid permit number, unless the City receives a written objection from the host within seven days. The City then affirms or reverses its determination within 30 days, and the platform removes the listing within 48 hours of a final determination. A permit also expires when ownership changes, and the successor owner must be issued a new permit before the property is used as a short-term rental.