Nashville

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

Maximum occupants = twice the number of sleeping rooms plus four (2 x sleeping rooms + 4). STRPs are limited to a maximum of 4 sleeping rooms, so the effective ceiling is 12. Simultaneous rental to more than one party under separate contracts is prohibited. The occupancy maximum must be conspicuously posted within the unit.

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

Only one permit is issued per lot in single-family and two-family zoning districts. No county-wide numeric cap on total permits is set in the current code.

Grandfathering: BL2017-608 (passed Jan 23, 2018; effective Feb 2, 2018) made new not-owner-occupied STRPs a conditional use limited to specified mixed-use/commercial districts and excluded them from single-/two-family residential districts. The ordinance provided that 'properly issued and maintained permits issued under previous regulations may be renewed prior to their expiration until June 28, 2020' (date amended up from June 28, 2019). IMPORTANT CORRECTION vs draft: the draft's claim that legacy residential NOO permits are simply 'not renewed' after June 28, 2020 overstates the outcome — the Tennessee Short-Term Rental Unit Act (T.C.A. sec. 13-7-602) grandfathers STR units that operated lawfully before a local prohibition, so pre-existing residential NOO permits were largely preserved rather than fully phased out. The precise current renewal treatment of legacy residential NOO permits should be confirmed with Metro Codes (needs_review).

Zoning: Owner-Occupied STRP is an accessory use permitted in residential zoning districts (owner must permanently reside on the lot). Not-Owner-Occupied (NOO) STRP is a commercial use permitted with conditions only in specified mixed-use/commercial districts (per BL2017-608: RM2 through RM100-A, MUN, MUL, MUG, MUI, OG, OR20-OR40-A, ORI-A, CN-A, CL-A, CS-A, CA, CF, DTC). New NOO permits are NOT issued in single-/two-family residential districts AR2a, R, RS, or RM (current Metro Codes guidance). NOTE: the exact commercial-district code list is a non-exhaustive summary drawn from the ordinance; confirm against current Title 17 zoning code for a specific parcel.

• Maximum guest stay is 30 consecutive days (quote-anchored: 'The maximum stay for any guest shall be thirty consecutive days.').
• Owner may not receive compensation for occupancy of less than 24 hours (quote-anchored: 'The STRP owner shall not receive any compensation or remuneration to permit occupancy of an STRP for a period of less than twenty-four hours.').
• Permit is non-transferable and cannot be assigned to another individual, entity, or address.
• primary_residence_required is false at the record level because not-owner-occupied permits exist in commercial/mixed-use zones; the Owner-Occupied permit class does require the owner to permanently reside on the lot.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

unknown

Fines

Operating an STRP without a permit is punishable by a $50 fine imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction; each day of operation without a permit constitutes a separate offense.