Explore state-level lodging exceptions and qualifying conditions. Choose your jurisdiction, then verify how the rules apply to your individual property.
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50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Research dated October 14, 2026.
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Alabama lodging and room rental research
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — lodging category
What qualifies? — plain language
Actual transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or lodgings. The arrangement cannot be created to evade the residential landlord–tenant act.
Short-term / transient definition
Tenancy exception: no fixed number of days in this section.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Tax registration; operating permit unresolved
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or other accommodation subject to the specified lodging sales tax is excluded from the Residential Landlord–Tenant Act.
Short-term / transient definition
Tax rule uses transient versus qualifying month-to-month rental; it is not simply “under 30 days.”
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Local/category-based
What qualifies? — plain language
One route is qualifying transient hotel/motel occupancy of 30 days or less subject to transient-occupancy tax. A separate hotel-service route requires innkeeper access/control and the specified hotel services.
Short-term / transient definition
30-day transient route; separate full-service-hotel exception has additional conditions. Forced checkouts to avoid tenant rights are restricted.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — specific law
State license required?
Local/category-based
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel/motel occupancy for less than 30 days is excluded from the cited warranty-of-habitability part. This is not a blanket exemption from every landlord–tenant law.
Short-term / transient definition
Less than 30 days for this habitability exclusion.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — tax permit; operating permits local
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel or motel is excluded. A stay of less than 30 days can still be residential if it is the occupant’s primary residence from the start.
Short-term / transient definition
Under 30 days: generally transient unless primary residence. 30–89 days: can be transient if not primary residence. 90 days or more: not transient under this definition.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — business/tax licensing
What qualifies? — plain language
Current law excludes residence in a hotel, motel, cubicle hotel or similar lodging unless created solely to evade the code. A future version expressly uses “transient occupancy” and the hotel tax definition.
Short-term / transient definition
No numerical stay limit in the current hotel exclusion. Do not apply the March 2027 wording early.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — DBPR lodging license
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a public lodging establishment is excluded from Part II of Chapter 83. Current §509.013 treats listed lodging categories as temporary unless a written agreement expressly makes the unit the guest’s sole residence.
Short-term / transient definition
A transient public lodging establishment generally rents more than 3 times yearly for stays under 30 days/one calendar month, or holds itself out for such rentals. Guest status has its own statutory test.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — tourist accommodation permit
What qualifies? — plain language
A true innkeeper–guest relationship is different from a landlord–tenant relationship. The Georgia Supreme Court looks to the grant of possession through agreement or conduct; a business label is not decisive.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal 30-, 90- or 180-day tenancy cutoff established by this decision.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Tax registration; operating permit unresolved
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel law gives qualifying innkeepers specific guest-removal rights. An express blanket URLTA-style transient exclusion was not established in the checked sources.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day limit established; tax uses 30 continuous days.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Tax registration; local operating licensing
What qualifies? — plain language
Innkeeper provisions distinguish guests from permanent residents with leases. The Act does not authorize termination of a lease/permanent resident’s occupancy without legal process.
Short-term / transient definition
The 30-day hotel-tax permanent-resident rule does not alone decide tenant rights.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional; local adoption
State license required?
Yes — hotel category
What qualifies? — plain language
In jurisdictions that have adopted Kentucky URLTA, transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or other lodgings subject to the specified transient-room tax is excluded.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenancy day limit in that exclusion. URLTA does not operate uniformly in every Kentucky locality.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — sanitary permit for covered lodging
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel guest-removal rules are distinct from lease eviction. The hotel procedure includes notice of checkout at registration and the statutory notice before removal.
Short-term / transient definition
No blanket 30-day tenant-status rule established in these sources.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — lodging category; exemptions
What qualifies? — plain language
Actual possession and the operator’s control/services matter. Maine’s high court rejected treating a lodging/business label as sufficient to decide whether a person is a tenant.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal automatic 30-day tenant rule established by this decision.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Tax registration; local/category-based
What qualifies? — plain language
Lodging-establishment law provides specified grounds/procedures for removing guests. It does not establish that every short furnished rental is exempt from residential law.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day limit verified in the cited guest law.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — status/procedure rules
State license required?
Yes — registration; local lodging-house license
What qualifies? — plain language
Lodging/rooming-house residents gain tenancy-at-will status after 3 consecutive months. Shorter occupancy can still have notice and court-process protections; this is not a blanket no-rights exception.
Short-term / transient definition
3 consecutive months is the statutory rooming/lodging-house tenancy threshold.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Tax registration; operating permit unresolved
What qualifies? — plain language
The court evaluates the relationship, including exclusive possession and the agreement, to distinguish a hotel guest from a tenant. A property’s name alone does not decide it.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day limit established by the court guidance used here.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — lodging license
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy is temporary in intention. Sole residence creates a presumption against transient status; maintaining another residence creates the opposite presumption under the innkeeper law.
Short-term / transient definition
No automatic tenant day limit in §327.70. Licensing and taxes have different duration tests.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — lodging license for 5+ rooms
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel law supplies guest-removal rules; a blanket residential-act transient exclusion was not established in the sources reviewed. Licensing “permanent guest” wording is not itself a tenancy ruling.
Short-term / transient definition
31+ days is a permanent-guest label in lodging licensing; do not treat it as a universal tenant-rights cutoff.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — Meals & Rentals tax license
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel/motel/inn occupancy is excluded under the cited statute. Rooming/boarding-house transient occupancy is separately excluded for fewer than 90 consecutive days.
Short-term / transient definition
Rooming/boarding houses: fewer than 90 consecutive days. Actual hotels have a separate exclusion; the Supreme Court applied it to a long extended-hotel stay.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — Anti-Eviction Act
State license required?
Yes — category-based DCA oversight
What qualifies? — plain language
The Anti-Eviction Act excludes hotels, motels and other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests. This is an exception to that statute, not permission to disregard every possession or notice rule.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal day limit in the cited exception. The 90-day tax rule is separate.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Tax registration; local/category-based
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel or motel is excluded. The statute defines transient occupancy by short rental-payment intervals or absence of intent to establish a household residence.
Short-term / transient definition
Less-than-weekly rent/payment or no intent to establish a household residence under the statutory definition; no universal maximum number of days.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — nontransient residents protected
State license required?
Yes — temporary-residence category
What qualifies? — plain language
For possession proceedings, the tenant definition includes a nontransient hotel or rooming-house resident who has occupied for 30 consecutive days or longer.
Short-term / transient definition
30 consecutive days plus nontransient status for the RPAPL protection; other laws and local hotel rules can add rights.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — covered lodging permit
What qualifies? — plain language
The residential rental article excludes transient hotel/motel/RV-park/similar lodging as defined in §72-1(c), unless the agreement expressly creates a tenancy. Vacation rentals have a separate statute.
Short-term / transient definition
Transient hotel occupancy: fewer than 90 consecutive days. Vacation Rental Act: qualifying recreational/vacation rental under 90 days by a person with another permanent residence.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
No express blanket exclusion verified
State license required?
Yes — lodging category; small-property exception
What qualifies? — plain language
The reviewed landlord–tenant chapter did not establish a blanket hotel/STR exemption. Actual guest-versus-tenant status and the applicable possession procedure need review.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal hotel-to-tenant cutoff verified in these sources.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — qualifying hotel license
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in qualifying facilities licensed under Chapter 3731 is outside the residential-premises definition. The actual license/category and occupancy must fit.
Short-term / transient definition
Hotel licensing distinguishes transient stays of 30 days or less from extended-stay categories. Do not substitute the sales-tax room count for the license test.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — lodging license
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or similar lodging is excluded, regardless of length of occupancy, unless the arrangement is created to avoid the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
Short-term / transient definition
The statute expressly says duration alone does not decide the exclusion; the arrangement must still be transient hotel/similar lodging.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — traveler accommodation category
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy requires daily charges, no more than 6 days’ rent collected in advance, maid/linen service daily or every 2 days, and occupancy of no more than 30 days. Qualifying vacation occupancy is separate.
Short-term / transient definition
Transient: at most 30 days plus service/payment tests. Vacation occupancy: generally at most 45 days, recreational use and another principal residence.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — tax license; local/category permits
What qualifies? — plain language
Innkeeper rules and residential tenancy law are distinct. The reviewed sources did not establish a universal day-count exemption for every hotel/STR occupant.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal automatic 30-day tenant-status rule verified. The hotel-tax permanent-resident definition is a separate issue.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — retail tax license; local operating permits
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or other accommodations subject to the tax under §12-36-920 is excluded from the residential landlord–tenant act.
Short-term / transient definition
No separate universal day limit in the tenancy exception. State tax uses the 90-day continuous-occupancy rule.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — category-based lodging license
What qualifies? — plain language
The statute provides specific grounds/procedures for removing hotel and similar guests. It is not a universal statement that every room rental is exempt from residential law.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day limit verified; tax uses a separate 28-day threshold.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional; county scope
State license required?
Yes — hotel category
What qualifies? — plain language
Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or other lodgings subject to specified lodging taxes is excluded from URLTA unless created to avoid it. URLTA itself applies only in qualifying populous counties.
Short-term / transient definition
No single tenancy day cutoff in the exclusion. State sales tax uses 90 days; local occupancy tax commonly uses 30 days under the governing state provision.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Yes — tax account; local/category permits
What qualifies? — plain language
A guest generally has a lodging license; a tenant receives residential possession. Texas cases examine the actual arrangement; tax permanent-resident status alone does not establish tenant status.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal automatic 30-day tenant cutoff in the cited cases.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Guest law — fact-based
State license required?
Category-based; local health approval
What qualifies? — plain language
Innkeeper-rights law addresses temporary guests in public lodging. The checked sources did not establish a blanket residential-tenancy exclusion for every licensed lodging business.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day cutoff verified; lodging taxes use fewer than 30 consecutive days.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Yes — conditional
State license required?
Yes — hotel/food category
What qualifies? — plain language
Hotel/motel/extended-stay lodging not used as a primary residence is excluded. A primary-residence occupant is excluded only within the statutory 90-day framework; special notice protections still apply.
Short-term / transient definition
Primary residence: coverage after more than 90 days or a written lease for more than 90 days. Non-primary-residence hotel occupancy follows a separate rule.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
No express blanket exclusion verified
State license required?
Tax registration; operating permit unresolved
What qualifies? — plain language
The reviewed residential rental provisions did not establish a blanket transient-lodging exclusion. Determine whether the occupant is a guest or residential tenant under the actual agreement.
Short-term / transient definition
No universal tenant-status day limit verified in these sources.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — rental-practices rule
State license required?
Yes — tourist rooming house/hotel license
What qualifies? — plain language
The ATCP 134 rental-practices chapter excludes hotel/boarding-house transient occupancy. Transient means a temporary stay while away from a permanent residence and generally fewer than 60 days.
Short-term / transient definition
Fewer than 60 days plus the away-from-permanent-home condition for this administrative-rule exclusion.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — residential definition
State license required?
Tax license; operating permit unresolved
What qualifies? — plain language
Residential rental-unit law focuses on use as a principal home and excludes occasional recreational rentals. A blanket exemption for every hotel/STR was not verified.
Short-term / transient definition
Principal-home use is the relevant test here; no universal 6-month tenant cutoff was established in enacted law.
District of Columbia lodging and room rental research
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Partial — Rental Housing Act
State license required?
Yes — STR or other business category
What qualifies? — plain language
The Rental Housing Act’s housing-accommodation definition excludes qualifying hotels/inns, with certificate-of-occupancy and statutory transient-use conditions. This is not a blanket exemption from all tenant laws.
Short-term / transient definition
DC’s STR license is for stays of 30 or fewer continuous nights; that is distinct from the Rental Housing Act hotel exclusion.
Source research date: 2026-10-14 · Check for later amendments.
Lodging Exceptions
Temporary lodging exception?
Separate lodging contract law
State license required?
Yes — tourism tax registration; use permits
What qualifies? — plain language
The Civil Code recognizes a lodging contract (hospedaje) separate from a lease, with lodging/service duties. No U.S.-URLTA-style blanket exemption was established in the checked sources.
Short-term / transient definition
Room-tax STR definition: less than 90 consecutive days. This is not by itself a civil-law tenant-status cutoff.
A source-linked Tennessee room rental research checklist covering state-law applicability, local zoning, property safety, and questions to verify before operating.
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