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LIGHTLY REGULATEDevery claim verified 2026-07-17 against the sources below

Is a short-term rental legal in Dallas, TX?

Dallas passed two short-term rental (STR) ordinances on June 14, 2023: a ZONING ordinance (amending Chapters 51/51A of the Dallas Development Code) that makes STR lodging a permitted use only in multifamily, mixed-use, central-area, office, commercial and urban-corridor districts and effectively bans it from single-family residential neighborhoods; and a REGISTRATION ordinance (new City Code Chapter 42B) requiring annual registration ($404/yr, reinspection $234), inspection, a 24/7 local responsible party, a 2-night minimum stay, occupancy of 3 persons per bedroom capped at 12, and one STR per rentable unit. However, BOTH ordinances are currently UNENFORCEABLE: a Dallas County district court entered a temporary injunction on December 6, 2023 barring enforcement, and the Fifth Court of Appeals affirmed that injunction in a memorandum opinion issued July 18, 2025 (No. 05-23-01309-CV, disposition reversed-and-affirmed-in-part), finding the challengers likely to succeed on their constitutional/due-course-of-law claims. The City filed a petition for review with the Texas Supreme Court on October 16, 2025 (pending as of 2026-07-17), seeking to enforce the ban before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. So TODAY a host may legally operate an STR anywhere in Dallas, including single-family neighborhoods, without STR-specific registration; the only rules actually enforced are the City's pre-existing hotel occupancy tax (7% City + 6% State), minimum property standards, noise, and nuisance codes (per the City's own Code Compliance page). If the injunction is lifted, the on-books de facto ban and Chapter 42B registration regime would spring back into effect.

At a glance

Unhosted whole-home rentalYes
Hosted rental (host present)Yes
Primary residence requiredNo
Guest cap12 guests
Rules apply to stays under30 days

ENFORCEABLE TODAY: STRs may operate in any zoning district, including single-family, because enforcement of both 2023 STR ordinances is enjoined (temporary injunction 12/6/2023, affirmed by Fifth Court of Appeals 7/18/2025, No. 05-23-01309-CV; City's petition for review pending at Texas Supreme Court, filed 10/16/2025). ON THE BOOKS BUT ENJOINED: the zoning ordinance (Ch. 51/51A amendment, passed 6/14/2023) permits STR lodging by-right only in multifamily (MF-1 through MF-4), mixed-use (MU-1/2/3), central-area (CA-1/2), office (MO/GO), commercial and urban-corridor districts and bans it from single-family districts; the registration ordinance (Ch. 42B, passed 6/14/2023) caps occupancy at 3 persons per bedroom / 12 total, sets a 2-night minimum stay, limits one STR per rentable unit, and requires one off-street parking space per STR bedroom. Neither ordinance imposes a primary-residence requirement. STR is defined as renting for fewer than 30 consecutive days (or one month, whichever is less).

What you need to operate

RequirementAuthorityCostOfficial source
Hotel Occupancy Tax registration (STRs treated as hotels) City of Dallas, City Controller's Office - Special Collections Unit (Hotel Occupancy Tax)
CURRENTLY ENFORCED (not part of the enjoined 2023 ordinances). Every STR must register and remit HOT via dallas.munirevs.com. City Code Article V, Hotel Occupancy Tax governs. Registered STRs must also obtain a state HOT number (Texas Comptroller).
 No stated registration fee; tax is 7% of net room receipts
renewal: Registration form kept on file; updated on ownership/management/name change
 source
Short-Term Rental Registration (City Code Chapter 42B) City of Dallas, Code Compliance Services
ENJOINED / NOT CURRENTLY ENFORCED per the City's Code Compliance STR page (temporary injunction 12/6/2023). Chapter 42B (added by ordinance passed 6/14/2023) requires: complete application, proof of ownership, certificate of occupancy, HOT registration number, a designated Local Responsible Party contactable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, passing a property inspection, and posting the registration and certificate of occupancy. Operational limits: max occupancy 3 persons/bedroom capped at 12 total; minimum allowable rental period 2 nights; no more than one STR per rentable unit. Two-strikes provision (two or more citations in the preceding year). Fee figure ($404/$234) is from the enacted 2023 ordinance PDF; the currently codified amount on the amLegal code library may have been amended (see needs_review).
 $404.00 per year (annual registration fee; initial inspection included)
renewal: Annual; reinspection fee $234.00 if property must be reinspected
 source
Zoning / land-use compliance for STR lodging (Chapters 51 & 51A, Dallas Development Code) City of Dallas, Planning & Urban Design / Planning & Development
ENJOINED / NOT CURRENTLY ENFORCED. Ordinance passed 6/14/2023 amending Chapter 51 (Ord. 10962) and Chapter 51A (Ord. 19455) to create a 'Short-term rental lodging' use permitted by-right only in MF-1 through MF-4 multifamily, MU-1/2/3 mixed-use, CA-1/2 central-area, MO/GO office, commercial and urban-corridor districts, and NOT in single-family residential districts (effectively a ban there). Requires a certificate of occupancy in a district where the use is permitted and one off-street parking space per STR bedroom. Penalty up to $2,000. Because of the injunction, STRs currently operate in single-family districts notwithstanding this ordinance.
 Not verified source

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
City of Dallas Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) 7% of net room receipts Short-term rentals (defined as hotels for HOT purposes) rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days Not verified source
Texas State Hotel Occupancy Tax 6% of the cost of a room Short-term rentals / hotels statewide (stays under 30 days) Yes source

Enforcement

PenaltiesOn the books but ENJOINED: Chapter 42B (registration) violations are punishable by a fine not to exceed $500; the zoning ordinance (Ch. 51/51A) carries a penalty not to exceed $2,000. Enforcement of both STR ordinances has been barred since the 12/6/2023 temporary injunction. Currently enforceable: HOT tax liabilities, fines, penalties and interest for non-payment; minimum property standards (Chapter 27); disturbing-noise and private-nuisance ordinances; and habitual-nuisance-property designation under Chapter 27.
Platform liabilityThe enjoined Chapter 42B names hosting platforms among regulated parties, but no STR-specific platform liability is enforceable today due to the injunction. Platforms do collect the 6% Texas state HOT.
NotesPer the City of Dallas Code Compliance short-term rentals page (Wayback snapshot 2026-07-03): 'On December 6, 2023, a temporary injunction was filed prohibiting the enforcement of the two short-term rental ordinances. In the meantime, the City will continue enforcement of its existing ordinances.' The Fifth Court of Appeals affirmed the injunction (memorandum opinion 7/18/2025, No. 05-23-01309-CV); City filed a petition for review with the Texas Supreme Court on 10/16/2025 (pending).

Pending changes

What we could not verify (6)

  • Registration fee: the enacted 2023 ordinance PDF (City Secretary item 23-0833) states $404.00/yr and a $234.00 reinspection fee. Secondary summaries of the currently codified Chapter 42B (amLegal) report a lower figure ($248 / $144 reinspection), suggesting a possible post-2023 fee amendment. The amLegal code library is Cloudflare-gated and could not be directly fetched to confirm the current codified fee. Moot while the ordinance is enjoined, but verify against amLegal 42B-5 before publishing.
  • City Code Compliance STR page was read via an Internet Archive capture (snapshot 2026-07-03) of the official URL because the live dallascityhall.com pages timed out / had TLS errors during this task. The injunction-notice text was verbatim from that snapshot.
  • Fifth Court of Appeals 7/18/2025 memorandum opinion disposition is 'reversed and affirmed in part' per the official txcourts.gov docket; the exact portion reversed vs. affirmed was not read from the opinion PDF. News sources characterize the net result as the temporary injunction being affirmed (STRs continue operating). The opinion PDF itself was not fetched.
  • City of Dallas 7% HOT: whether Airbnb/Vrbo collect and remit the City (local) HOT on behalf of Dallas STR hosts was not confirmed on an official source (set to null). State 6% HOT platform collection is set true based on the Comptroller's general guidance that third-party rental companies may be responsible; the specific Airbnb/Vrbo state-collection arrangement was not confirmed on an official page in this task.
  • Specific assigned ordinance numbers for the two 6/14/2023 ordinances were not confirmed from the official PDFs (headers were OCR-garbled); cited by City Secretary agenda item numbers (23-0833 registration/Ch.42B, 23-0844 zoning/Ch.51-51A) and effective date instead.
  • Zoning: any per-structure density cap on STR units within multifamily/mixed-use buildings (secondary sources mention a ~3% or 20-unit threshold) was not verified from the official ordinance text; the ordinance references a density limit but the exact percentage was not confirmed.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /dallas-tx.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, verified against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between our verification passes. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.