Short-Term Rental Permit Glossary

Short-term rental (STR)

A home, condo or room rented to guests for short stays, usually under 30 nights, often through Airbnb or Vrbo. Many cities and some states require a permit, license or registration to operate one. More on this

Short-term rental permit

Permission from a city or county to operate a short-term rental at a specific address. The application usually names the owner or operator and the property, and the permit carries a number that hosts must show in their listings in many cities. More on this

Short-term rental license

A license to operate a short-term rental, issued by a state, county or city. Some places call the same thing a permit or a registration; Florida and Wisconsin issue licenses statewide. More on this

Registration number

The number a city assigns when a host registers a short-term rental. Many cities require it to appear on every listing, which is how they check listings against the register.

Permit register

The list of permits or licenses a government has issued. When a city publishes it as open data, each row becomes a public record that names the holder and the rental address. More on this

Owner-occupied rental

A short-term rental in the home the owner lives in, such as a spare room or a unit on the same lot. Cities including Nashville permit these separately from homes the owner does not live in. More on this

Non-owner-occupied rental

A short-term rental in a home the owner does not live in, often called an investor rental. Many cities cap, zone or charge more for this class. More on this

Pending application

A permit application that has been filed but not yet approved or denied. It is the earliest sign that a homeowner is starting a short-term rental. More on this

Expired permit

A permit that was not renewed by its deadline. Registers that keep their history list expired permits next to active ones. More on this

Revoked permit

A permit the city cancelled, usually for violations or unpaid taxes or fees.

Florida DBPR vacation rental license

Florida's state license for vacation rentals, issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation under Florida Statutes section 509.241. Each license is coded as a dwelling, a condominium or a collective of units. More on this

Texas hotel occupancy tax permit

The permit Texas businesses file with the state Comptroller to collect hotel occupancy tax. Rented houses and condos owe the tax too, so short-term rentals appear on the permit roll next to hotels. More on this

Tourist rooming house

Wisconsin's term for a short-term rental. The state licenses tourist rooming houses through the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), under ATCP 72. More on this

Transaction privilege tax (TPT) license

Arizona's sales-tax license. Arizona has no statewide short-term rental permit; hosts need a TPT license, and cities may require their own local short-term rental license.

STRO license

San Diego's Short-Term Residential Occupancy license, issued in tiers that separate part-time rentals, home sharing and whole-home rentals. More on this

Preemption

When state law takes a power away from local governments. Idaho and Iowa preempt local short-term rental permitting, so their cities publish no permit registers. More on this

Licensee

The person or company named on a license. It is usually the owner, but in Florida a management company can hold the license for a home it manages.

Address-level record

A permit record with a name and an address but no phone or email, because the register does not publish them. These records suit direct mail and skip tracing. More on this

Skip tracing

Looking up a phone number or email for a person whose name and address are known, using commercial data services.

Multi-property owner

A person or company whose name appears on permits for two or more rental addresses. Found by grouping permit records by holder name within one state. More on this

Do Not Call Registry

The national list, run by the Federal Trade Commission, of phone numbers whose owners do not want telemarketing calls. Many states keep their own lists too. More on this

TCPA

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal law that limits marketing calls and texts, especially with autodialers, prerecorded or artificial voices, and to cell phones. More on this

Filing date

The date a permit application was filed or a permit was issued, as the register publishes it. It is how new records are told apart from old ones. More on this

PermitPulse

Lead Mining Company's database of U.S. short-term rental permit and license records, built from public government registers. More on this

Numbers behind these terms are in the research section.