Lake Havasu City, AZ Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Section 5.20.060 builds a tiered civil penalty ladder tied to 'verified violations' at the same vacation rental property within the same 12-month period: $500 or one night's advertised rent, whichever is greater, for the first; $1,000 or two nights' rent for the second; and $3,500 or three nights' rent for the third and any later offense. Subsection (F) then converts a pattern of violations into a permit consequence: three verified violations within a 12-month period can suspend the vacation rental permit for up to 12 months, though the code carves out aesthetic, solid-waste-disposal, or parking violations that are not also a serious threat to public health and safety, so those alone do not build toward the three-strikes suspension.

A single verified violation can also trigger immediate suspension exposure if it involves a felony committed at or near the rental, a serious injury or wrongful death from the owner's reckless conduct, housing a sex offender or sober-living operation, or knowingly allowing an unpermitted special event or commercial use. Subsection (D) protects owners from double-counting: multiple verified violations arising from the same incident response count as one violation for both civil penalty and suspension purposes. Underlying every stage is the misdemeanor backstop in § 5.20.060(B): any violation of Chapter 5.20 is also a class one misdemeanor carrying a minimum $500 civil fine, cumulative with the tiered schedule and permit suspension rather than a substitute for them.