STRWATCH.AI 50/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / WA / Seattle

Is a short-term rental legal in Seattle, WA?

REGULATED

Short-term rentals (any dwelling unit rented for fewer than 30 consecutive nights) are legal citywide in Seattle in most lawfully established dwelling units, but every operator needs two city credentials: a Seattle business license tax certificate and a $75/unit/year STR regulatory license (SMC Ch.

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Sources checked2026-07-169 open items listed below

SMC 6.600.040.B (Ord. 125490): an operator may offer no more than ONE dwelling unit as an STR, or a maximum of TWO units if one of them is the operator's primary residence. So one unhosted, non-primary-residence whole-home rental is allowed with licenses; a second unit is allowed only if the other is the operator's primary residence. Legacy exceptions for operators active before Sept 30, 2017: citywide legacy operators may keep up to two units (and add a third if it is their primary residence after first renewal); operators in the Downtown Urban Center (south of Olive Way, north of Cherry St) and, for post-2012 buildings of <=5 units, the First Hill/Capitol Hill Urban Center may continue pre-existing units plus one additional (SMC 6.600.040.B.1-3, with documentary proof required per B.4). Rentals of 30+ consecutive nights are not STRs (SMC 23.84A.024; RCW 64.37.010). STRs prohibited in RVs, tents, garages, boats, non-dwelling spaces, live-work units, caretaker's quarters, and floating homes/shoreline waterfront residences (SDCI, SMC 23.42.060, Ord. 125483). No STR-specific citywide guest cap was verified.

What you need to operate

Seattle Business License Tax Certificate $73 for 2026 new applications (renewal fee tiered by prior-year taxable revenue; half-year fee if starting July 1 or later; $10 per branch location)
City of Seattle Office of City Finance / License and Tax Administration
Renewal: annual (expires Dec 31)
Apply via FileLocal (www.filelocal-wa.gov); allow 48 hours before applying for the STR regulatory license. The 2026 small-business exemption (<=$4,000 gross, no place of business in city) does NOT apply to activities requiring a regulatory license, so STR operators still need this certificate.
official source
Short-Term Rental Operator License (regulatory license) $75 per dwelling unit per year
City of Seattle (SMC Ch. 6.600, Ord. 125490)
Renewal: annual (valid 12 months from issuance)
Apply through the Seattle Services Portal. License number must appear on every listing in format STR-OPLI-##-######. Fee set at $75/unit in SMC 6.600.090.B; Director reviews fees annually for cost recovery.
official source
RRIO Registration (Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance) Cost not verified
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI)
Required before the STR regulatory license for units NOT within the operator's primary residence; unit subject to inspection for housing/building maintenance standards. RRIO fee not verified.
official source
Liability insurance (state) Cost not verified
Washington State (RCW 64.37.050)
Operator must maintain primary liability coverage of not less than $1,000,000 aggregate, OR conduct every STR transaction through a platform providing equal or greater primary liability coverage.
official source
State consumer-safety duties Cost not verified
Washington State (RCW 64.37.030)
Provide contact info available during stays; comply with carbon monoxide alarm requirements; post in the unit: street address, emergency contacts, floor plan with fire exits, maximum occupancy, operator contact info. First violation = warning letter; subsequent = class 2 civil infraction.
official source
WA Department of Revenue tax registration and remittance Cost not verified
Washington State Department of Revenue (RCW 64.37.020; DOR Lodging Guide)
Transient lodging (under 30 days) is taxable under the Retailing B&O classification and operators must collect retail sales tax and applicable lodging taxes, unless a platform collects and remits them on the operator's behalf (RCW 64.37.020).
official source
STR Platform License (for booking platforms) $4.00 per night booked, paid quarterly (due Jan 30, Apr 30, Jul 30, Oct 30)
City of Seattle (SMC 6.600.040.A, 6.600.060)
Platforms must hold a platform license, verify operator license numbers on listings before providing booking services, remove listings on city notice, report monthly (licensed operators/units/URLs, 15th of each month) and quarterly (operator and nights-booked counts). Per-night fee originally set at $0 in Ord. 125490 with annual Director's Rule adjustment for cost recovery; current $4.00/night per seattle.gov. B&B operators listing on platforms need a separate $75/year B&B operator license plus a WA state transient accommodation license.
official source

The full picture

Short-term rentals (any dwelling unit rented for fewer than 30 consecutive nights) are legal citywide in Seattle in most lawfully established dwelling units, but every operator needs two city credentials: a Seattle business license tax certificate and a $75/unit/year STR regulatory license (SMC Ch. 6.600, effective Jan 1, 2019), with the license number posted on every listing in the format STR-OPLI-##-######. Operators are capped at one dwelling unit, or two units if one of them is the operator's primary residence — so a host may run a single non-primary whole-home STR, but cannot scale beyond that unless grandfathered as a pre-September 30, 2017 legacy operator (with extra allowances in the Downtown and First Hill/Capitol Hill urban centers). Units that are not part of the operator's primary residence must also register with the city's Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance (RRIO) program. STRs are not allowed in RVs, tents, garages, boats, live-work units, caretaker's quarters, or shoreline floating homes. Washington state law (RCW 64.37) adds a $1M liability-insurance requirement (or platform-provided equivalent), safety/posting duties, and tax obligations; guests in Seattle pay a combined 15.7% lodging tax (including the 7% King County convention and trade center tax). Unlicensed operation draws $500 then $1,000 citations, and repeat violations can be charged as a misdemeanor.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Combined lodging taxes on Seattle short-term rentals (state + local retail sales tax + convention and trade center tax) 15.7% total (Q2 2026, DOR 'Seattle - Lodging: Short-term rental' line, location code 1726/6026) Gross lodging charges for stays under 30 consecutive nights, including cleaning, pet, damage-waiver and similar fees Not verified source
King County Convention and Trade Center Tax (component of the 15.7% above) 7.0% in Seattle Lodging stays under 30 days in King County; applies to ALL lodging businesses regardless of unit count since Jan 1, 2019, including short-term rentals Not verified source
Washington Retailing B&O tax (state) on lodging income rate not verified in this research Gross income from transient lodging sales No source

Enforcement

PenaltiesOperators/B&B operators: $500 citation for a first violation; $1,000 for each second or subsequent violation within 5 years; each day may be a separate violation (SMC 6.600.120, Ord. 125490). Two or more citations or notices of violation within 3 years can be charged as a misdemeanor (SMC 6.600.130). Platforms: $500/day per violation for the first 10 days, $1,000/day thereafter (SMC 6.600.110). Land-use (zoning) violations: $150-$500 per day plus inspection costs (SDCI, per seattle.gov). Seattle.gov also states operating without a business license tax certificate can draw a $513 citation.
Platform liabilityPlatforms are directly regulated: they must hold a Seattle platform license, verify that listings display valid operator license numbers BEFORE providing booking services, remove noncompliant listings upon city notification, file monthly operator reports and quarterly nights-booked reports, pay the $4.00/night-booked fee, inform operators of tax duties, and give the Director records access consistent with federal law (SMC 6.600.060; Ord. 125490). Under state law platforms must register with the WA Department of Revenue, notify operators of tax and safety obligations, and warn that personal insurance may not cover STR activity (RCW 64.37.040).
NotesCity licensing enforcement is handled by Finance and Administrative Services / City Finance ([email protected], 206-386-1267); zoning/building enforcement by SDCI. State safety violations: warning letter first, then class 2 civil infraction (RCW 64.37.030).

Pending changes

  • ESSB 5576 (official companion HB 1763; related 2026 House vehicle HB 2559, which advanced through House Finance Jan 29, 2026 and to Appropriations Feb 3, 2026): would authorize counties, cities, and towns to impose a special excise tax of up to 4% on short-term rental lodging facilitated through a platform, with revenue dedicated to affordable/workforce/supportive housing and rental assistance (up to 15% retainable for administration); tax could not be imposed before April 1, 2026 under the engrossed Senate version. Passed the WA Senate 27-21 on March 11, 2025, stalled in the House, reintroduced January 12, 2026, and as of July 16, 2026 remains in Senate Ways & Means — not enacted. If it passes, Seattle could layer up to 4% on top of the current 15.7%. — proposed, 2026-01-12 [official]

What we could not verify (9)

  • Current codified SMC 6.600 text could not be fetched (library.municode.com returned HTTP 403); unit caps, fees, and penalty amounts were verified against Ordinance 125490 as adopted (official Legistar full text) and corroborated by current seattle.gov program pages, but any post-2017 amendments to Ch. 6.600 were not independently confirmed.
  • The $513 citation figure for operating without a business license tax certificate comes from automated extraction of the seattle.gov STR page and should be re-confirmed against the page/SMC 5.55 before publication.
  • No STR-specific maximum-guest cap was verified; a general land-use household occupancy limit (reportedly max 8 persons per dwelling unit) appears in third-party summaries but was not verified against official code, so max_guests is null.
  • RRIO registration fee amount not verified (requirement itself verified on seattle.gov).
  • Washington state business license / DOR registration fee for operators not verified.
  • Whether platforms are legally REQUIRED to collect all Seattle lodging taxes as marketplace facilitators (RCW 82.08.0531) was not independently verified; RCW 64.37.020 confirms only that operators are relieved when a platform collects and remits — hence collectedByPlatform is null for guest taxes.
  • Seattle city B&O (business license) tax rates/thresholds on STR income not verified; operators must file returns even when no tax is due (per 2026 BLTC instructions, SMC 5.55).
  • Breakdown of the 15.7% total lodging rate beyond the 7% convention center component (state 6.5% + local + RTA per DOR footnote) was not itemized from an official source.
  • Companion bill HB 2559 details (April 2027 start date) are from news coverage only; the officially verified vehicle is ESSB 5576.

Sources

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

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