STRWATCH.AI 50/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / OR / Portland

Is a short-term rental legal in Portland, OR?

BANNED (DE FACTO)

Portland does not allow non-resident, whole-home short-term rentals: under Portland City Code 33.207 (Accessory Short-Term Rentals, or ASTR), a dwelling can only be rented short-term (stays under 30 consecutive days) if a resident occupies it at least 270 days per calendar year, so an investor who does not live in the unit cannot legally operate it as a whole-home nightly rental in residential zones.

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Verified2026-07-18against official sources

PCC 33.207.020 defines an ASTR as a dwelling where a resident rents bedrooms (not the whole unit) to overnight guests for fewer than 30 consecutive days; a resident must occupy the dwelling at least 270 days/calendar year (PCC 33.207.040.A.1, .050.A.1), and 'renting entire dwelling units on a short-term basis without a long-term resident occupying the unit for at least 270 days a year is not allowed in residential zones' (portland.gov/bds/astr-permits/before-you-apply). The resident/operator may be absent up to 95 days/year while guests occupy the unit. Type A caps at 2 bedrooms/5 guests (as-of-right, administrative permit); Type B allows 3-5 bedrooms and up to 10 guests, with the exact bedroom/guest count set during a discretionary Conditional Use Review. In commercial/mixed-use, employment, and industrial zones, PCC 33.207.030 lets a 3+ bedroom short-term rental instead be regulated as a Retail Sales and Service commercial use rather than under Chapter 33.207 -- a narrow carve-out whose practical use for non-resident whole-unit rentals was not independently confirmed (see needs_review).

What you need to operate

Type A Accessory Short-Term Rental (ASTR) Permit $504 initial application/renewal every 2 years (Business Operation Validation Fee); $186 delinquent renewal fee -- effective 2026-07-10
City of Portland, Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D)
Renewal: Every 2 years, renewed by the resident (PCC 33.207.040.C)
For renting up to 2 bedrooms to a maximum of 5 overnight guests; requires the resident to occupy the dwelling >=270 days/year, mail/deliver a neighbor and neighborhood-association notification letter, and submit resident ID (Oregon driver's license/ID) and property-owner information to PP&D (PCC 33.207.040). Fee verified against Portland Permitting & Development's Enforcement Fee and Penalty Schedule, effective 2026-07-10 (https://www.portland.gov/ppd/documents/enforcement-fee-and-penalty-fee-schedule-city-portland-effective-july-10-2026/download); a City press release confirms ASTR fees increase roughly 5-6%/year for inflation (https://www.portland.gov/community-economic-dev/news/2025/5/27/city-updates-citation-procedure-and-short-term-rental-fees). A revoked Type A permit cannot be reissued for the dwelling for 2 years (PCC 33.207.040.D).
official source
Type B Accessory Short-Term Rental Conditional Use Review Land Use Review fee: $10,686 (Type II, no commercial meetings) or $26,898-$36,126 (Type III, if commercial meetings proposed), plus a $309 Inspection Verification Fee -- effective 2026-07-10
City of Portland, Portland Permitting & Development, Planning and Zoning Division
Renewal: No renewal required; approval is transferable with sale of the house, but is lost if ASTR operation stops for more than 3 consecutive years
For renting 3-5 bedrooms; same >=270 day residency rule as Type A (PCC 33.207.050.A.1). Processed as a Type II land-use review, or Type III if the operator proposes commercial meetings/events (up to 24/year, allowed in all zones except single-dwelling zones). Fees verified against the Land Use Services Fee Schedule effective 2026-07-10 (https://www.portland.gov/ppd/documents/land-use-services-fee-schedule-city-portland-effective-july-10-2026/download, 'Conditional Use' table) and the Enforcement Fee and Penalty Schedule effective 2026-07-10 for the Inspection Verification Fee. Renewal/lapse terms confirmed at https://www.portland.gov/ppd/astr-permits/maintain-astr-permits-and-conditional-uses.
official source
Bedroom Safety Standards (smoke/CO detectors, sleeping-room code compliance) Cost not verified
City of Portland, Portland Permitting & Development
Renewal: Verified by PP&D for each bedroom at permit issuance (PCC 33.207.040.B.4 / .050.B.4)
Every rented bedroom must have met sleeping-room building-code requirements when created (exempt for bedrooms in multi-dwelling structures and triplexes), have a smoke detector interconnected with one in an adjacent hallway, and be on a floor with a functioning carbon monoxide alarm if the unit has a CO source.
official source
Transient Lodgings Tax Registration / Certificate of Authority Cost not verified
City of Portland Revenue Division
Renewal: Register within 15 calendar days of commencing business; Certificate of Authority is nonassignable/nontransferable and must be returned if the business closes or moves
Required of every ASTR operator even if all bookings run through a platform that remits tax directly; the certificate must be displayed to guests (or linked during online booking). A separate City of Portland/Multnomah County Business License Tax program may also apply to rental income above an exemption threshold; the current rate/threshold as applied to ASTR hosts was not verified this session (see needs_review).
official source

The full picture

Portland does not allow non-resident, whole-home short-term rentals: under Portland City Code 33.207 (Accessory Short-Term Rentals, or ASTR), a dwelling can only be rented short-term (stays under 30 consecutive days) if a resident occupies it at least 270 days per calendar year, so an investor who does not live in the unit cannot legally operate it as a whole-home nightly rental in residential zones. Owner- or long-term-tenant-occupied hosts can rent out part of their home: a Type A permit (administrative, from Portland Permitting & Development) covers up to 2 bedrooms/5 guests and costs $504 to apply or renew every 2 years (Enforcement Fee and Penalty Schedule effective 2026-07-10); a Type B Conditional Use Review covers 3-5 bedrooms/up to 10 guests and costs a $10,686 (Type II) or $26,898-$36,126 (Type III, if commercial meetings are proposed) land-use review fee plus a $309 inspection fee, with no renewal but automatic lapse after 3 consecutive years of non-operation. The resident can be absent from the home for up to 95 days per year while guests stay. Guests pay a combined 16% in lodging taxes/assessments -- Portland Transient Lodgings Tax 6%, Multnomah County Transient Lodging Tax 5.5%, Oregon state lodging tax 1.5%, and a Portland Tourism Improvement District assessment of 3% -- plus a flat $4-per-night Portland Housing and Homelessness Fee (PCC 6.09), all of which registered platforms such as Airbnb collect and remit directly. Operating without a permit or exceeding approved bedroom/guest limits draws escalating citations of $1,829 (1st offense), $5,475 (2nd), and $9,122 (3rd and each additional offense) per the Portland Permitting & Development fee schedule effective 2026-07-10, and a March 2026 City Ombudsman report found these penalties fall disproportionately on marginalized operators and recommended (not yet adopted) warnings-first enforcement and a lower cap.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Portland Transient Lodgings Tax 6% (5% General Fund + 1% Travel Portland/tourism promotion) Transient lodging stays under 30 consecutive days within Portland city limits Yes source
Multnomah County Transient Lodging Tax 5.5% Transient lodging stays under 30 consecutive days within Multnomah County, including Portland Yes source
Oregon State Transient Lodging Tax 1.5% Transient lodging stays under 30 consecutive days, statewide Yes source
Portland Tourism Improvement District (TID) Assessment 3% Hotel and short-term rental room revenue for reservations made on or after 2021-07-01, within Portland city limits Yes source
Portland Housing and Homelessness Fee (Nightly Fee on Short-Term Rentals) $4 per night per booking Short-term rental bookings of 1-30 nights within Portland (hotels are exempt), for reservations made on or after 2018-08-01 Yes source

Enforcement

PenaltiesASTR violations (operating without a permit, exceeding approved bedroom/guest counts, violating Type B conditional-use conditions, or failing to provide guest transactional data within 30 days of a City request per PCC 33.207.060) are cited under PP&D Administrative Rule ENB-13.01 at escalating fines of $1,829 (1st offense), $5,475 (2nd offense), and $9,122 (3rd and each additional offense), per the Enforcement Fee and Penalty Schedule effective 2026-07-10 (https://www.portland.gov/ppd/documents/enforcement-fee-and-penalty-fee-schedule-city-portland-effective-july-10-2026/download; rule text at https://www.portland.gov/ppd/documents/enb-1301-accessory-short-term-rental-astr-enforcement-full-text-policy/download). Each day of continued non-compliance may be cited as a separate violation, and distinct violation types can be cited together; the City's own 2025-05-27 press release put the then-current stacked maximum at $26,201 (https://www.portland.gov/community-economic-dev/news/2025/5/27/city-updates-citation-procedure-and-short-term-rental-fees), and a 2026-03-04 City Ombudsman report cites an updated stacked maximum of $27,513 (https://www.portland.gov/auditor/ombudsman/news/2026/3/4/accessory-short-term-rentals-changes-city-rules-and-enforcement) -- the two figures were not reconciled to a single number (see needs_review). Unpaid citation fines double if not paid within 15 days and become a lien on the property plus a 10% surcharge. Separately, violating booking-agent/operator tax duties under PCC 6.04.040.C/D carries a $1,000-per-violation-per-day civil penalty, with each booking transaction or fee collected treated as a separate violation (PCC 6.04.080.G). Ordinary Transient Lodgings Tax delinquency penalties are 10% (original delinquency), an additional 15% (continued delinquency), 25% for fraud/evasion, and 1%/month compounding interest (PCC 6.04.080).
Platform liabilityBooking agents/platforms (e.g., Airbnb, Vrbo) must register with the Revenue Division and file monthly Transient Lodgings Tax/TID reports (PCC 6.04.040, 6.04.060). Platforms that have entered a direct collection arrangement with the City -- Airbnb is listed as a '100% remitter' of the City's 6% tax, the County's 5.5% tax, the 3% TID assessment, and the $4/night Housing and Homelessness Fee (https://www.portland.gov/revenue/tlt) -- collect and remit on the host's behalf, and the host does not file a separate return for those bookings (host still must register). A booking agent/operator that violates its PCC 6.04.040 collection/remittance duties faces a $1,000-per-violation-per-day civil penalty (PCC 6.04.080.G). PP&D also states it 'partners with short-term rental platforms and operators' on enforcement outreach regarding residency requirements (2025-05-27 press release).
NotesASTR permit/citation fee amounts are adjusted roughly annually; the figures above are those in effect as of the 2026-07-18 as-of date (fee schedule effective 2026-07-10). A 2026-03-04 City Ombudsman report found Portland's first-violation maximum fine to be at least 27x higher than comparable cities, that the City issues no warnings before fining (unlike Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, and Minneapolis), and that roughly 55% of operators fined $10,000+ may be non-white, recent immigrants, or LGBTQ+; see pending_changes.

Pending changes

  • City Ombudsman report recommends: (1) issuing a warning before the first fine and cutting the first-violation maximum from roughly $27,513 to $7,255; (2) shifting to proactive enforcement using third-party listing/booking data instead of complaint-driven citations; (3) narrowing the cost gap between Type A and Type B permits; and (4) imposing a hard, no-exceptions cap of 95 rental days/year when the resident is not present. None of these recommendations had been adopted by City Council as of the report date. — proposed, 2026-03-04 [official]

What we could not verify (4)

  • A separate City of Portland/Multnomah County Business License Tax (net income tax) likely also applies to ASTR rental income above a small-business exemption threshold; I confirmed the program exists (portland.gov/code/7/02, portland.gov/revenue/business-tax) but did not verify its current rate or exemption threshold as applied to ASTR hosts specifically, so it is omitted from requirements[]/taxes[] rather than guessed.
  • The maximum stacked ASTR citation figure differs between the City's own 2025-05-27 press release ($26,201) and the 2026-03-04 City Ombudsman report ($27,513); both are official portland.gov sources but I could not reconcile the discrepancy to one authoritative number (it likely reflects the July 2025 vs. July 2026 fee-schedule updates and/or different assumptions about which violation types stack). The base per-offense figures I cite directly ($1,829/$5,475/$9,122) are independently verified against the July 10, 2026 Enforcement Fee and Penalty Schedule and are not in question.
  • The Type B Conditional Use Review land-use fee figures ($10,686 Type II / $26,898-$36,126 Type III) were extracted from a dense multi-column PDF fee table (Land Use Services Fee Schedule effective 2026-07-10) using layout-preserving text extraction and cross-checked against the raw table structure, but I did not obtain independent phone/email confirmation from Portland Permitting & Development, so a residual risk of column-misalignment error exists on this specific figure.
  • PCC 33.207.030 allows a 3+ bedroom short-term rental in commercial/mixed-use, employment, or industrial zones to instead be regulated as a Retail Sales and Service commercial use rather than under the ASTR/residency framework; I confirmed this cross-reference exists in the code but did not independently verify how often, or under what additional commercial-zoning/change-of-use requirements, this pathway is actually used to operate a non-resident whole-unit short-term rental.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /portland-or.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.