Newton, MA Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Sec. 20-161(d) states that should a property receive three or more violation notices within any twelve-month period under the Short Term Rental article, or of any municipal ordinance, state law, or building code, any residential unit within the property becomes ineligible to be used as a Short Term Rental for six months from the date of the third or subsequent violation. The trigger is deliberately broad: it is not limited to short-term-rental-specific infractions but sweeps in noise, health, zoning, trash, or general building-code violations tied to the property.

The penalty also reaches beyond the offending unit, since the text bars 'any residential unit within the property,' meaning a multi-unit property can lose its short-term rental eligibility entirely over violations tied to one unit. This strike rule sits alongside Sec. 20-161(c), which separately bars renting while any enforcement action or inactive permit remains open, so a property can face both an active-violation bar and, once resolved, a further six-month ineligibility clock running from the third strike.