Short-term rentals in Chelan County, explained properly.

Tier 1 means the owner is personally present during the rental, or the rental is on the same parcel as the owner's principal residence with the owner present, or the whole dwelling is rented no more than 15 days a year with an on-site qualified person present. Daytime limits: Tier 1 at most 8 people excluding the owner, Tier 2 at most 12, Tier 3 at most 16 excluding a resident owner. Occupancy between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. counts as overnight. To exceed the daytime limit, or to host events such as weddings, gatherings or retreats, an operator must first get a conditional use permit and the zone must allow rentals; overnight limits still apply. A facility sleeping more than 16 is a lodging facility that must meet the requirements of that zone. The County's page describes the Tier 1 limit of 8 as including the owner. Bedrooms may not exceed the number approved for the on-site sewage system by the Chelan-Douglas Health District, with no grace period.

Unlawful or unsafe parking by guests must be abated within sixty minutes of a complaint, or the owner is jointly liable with the guest; two verified unabated parking violations within six months can bring penalties up to revocation. A rental can exceed the vehicle limit for hosted events only with a conditional use permit and its traffic and parking conditions. The County's page names parking as one of the areas changed in 2025. The County's page says the code was changed in 2025, but the saved documents give no ordinance number or adoption date for those changes, and the amendment document is a marked-up copy in which struck and inserted words cannot be told apart. The number of spaces required isn't shown here because Chapter 11.90 hasn't been reviewed.

The County's page says an in-person fire inspection by the Fire Marshal's Office every other year is a 2025 change, and that the inspection fee is now in the Fire Prevention and Investigation fee table; the Fire Marshal's Office is no longer part of Community Development. The code encourages an annual owner self-inspection with a Fire Marshal checklist. The director can waive the initial inspection with a notarized affidavit from the fire district, fire marshal or health district. Each rental also needs a fire protection plan in its property management plan and at least one 2A:10BC fire extinguisher in the common living space. The County's page says the code was changed in 2025, but the saved documents give no ordinance number or adoption date for those changes, and the amendment document is a marked-up copy in which struck and inserted words cannot be told apart.

The contact's name, telephone number, address and email go on the permit application and the property management plan. Failing to have the contact respond, or failing to abate a rental-standard complaint within sixty minutes, is a violation with civil penalties under Section 16.20.030; a second violation within twelve months is grounds for revocation. Noise, parking and trespass complaints not abated within sixty minutes make the owner jointly liable with the guest. The sign outside the rental must show the County permit number and the contact's phone number.

The sign must identify the property as a short-term rental, be all-weather and permanently posted, with letters and numbers at least four inches high; if illuminated it must be indirectly lit. The owner must also display the street address so it is visible from the road. The permit number must appear in all advertisements and prominently on booking platforms and marketing materials.

The County's page says an operator must maintain primary liability insurance for the dwelling of not less than $1 million in the aggregate, and advises reviewing any platform's offered coverage with an insurance professional or attorney. The code itself refers to RCW 64.37.050 and we haven't reviewed that statute.

The County mails or emails a renewal reminder by September 1, but a missed reminder is no defense. A late renewal is processed, but the rental may not operate past December 31 until the permit is approved and issued. A rental that operates without a renewal must stop by January 1 and loses any vesting as a conforming or nonconforming rental, and then must apply as a new rental under the cap. A permit must be kept current even if the property is not rented in a twelve-month period. The County's page lists late-renewal fees among the 2025 changes. The County's page says the code was changed in 2025, but the saved documents give no ordinance number or adoption date for those changes, and the amendment document is a marked-up copy in which struck and inserted words cannot be told apart.

RCW 82.08.020(1) levies a tax equal to six and five-tenths percent of the selling price on each retail sale in this state, including services within the RCW 82.04.050 definition of retail sale. The Department of Revenue's lodging taxes guide says lodging taxes are reported in addition to state and local sales tax, that additional charges directly related to the room rental (pet, smoking, cleaning, damage and early or late departure fees) are taxed in the same manner as the room, and that charges for telephone, parking, laundry and meeting rooms are not subject to lodging taxes. The local sales tax rate is added to the state rate and varies by location; it is not stated in these sources, so this page gives no combined total. The statute page also shows an additional state allocation beginning July 1, 2027 that is deposited in the multimodal transportation account (RCW 82.08.020(7)); the sources read do not say it changes the rate charged.

RCW 67.28.180(1) authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to levy a special excise tax of not to exceed two percent on the sale of or charge made for the furnishing of lodging that is subject to tax under chapter 82.08 RCW, subject to the conditions in subsections (2) and (3). Subsection (2)(a) requires a county ordinance or resolution to allow a credit against the county tax for the full amount of any city tax on the same taxable event, with exceptions for certain bond arrangements listed in the statute. This is the cap in this section only; the sources read do not list each place's actual rate. The Department of Revenue says consumers pay the special hotel/motel tax on transient lodging in many locations, that a convention and trade center tax applies to lodging in King County, and that tourism promotion area charges apply in designated areas; check the Department's tax rate lookup for the address. Each place's page shows its own local rate where it has been read.

WAC 458-20-282 says a marketplace facilitator must collect and remit sales or use tax on all taxable retail sales sourced to Washington on behalf of marketplace sellers, and from January 1, 2020 must also collect and remit other applicable taxes and fees, listing lodging taxes and charges as an example. The exclusion for travel agency and hotel marketplaces does not apply to a marketplace that facilitates the retail sale of transient lodging in homes, apartments, cabins or other residential dwelling units. Facilitators must register if they pass the thresholds the Department lists (more than $100,000 in combined Washington gross receipts, or physical presence nexus, among others). The Department's lodging guide says some marketplaces have agreed with it to collect and pay the taxes due on short-term rentals, tells the host to check the contract with the marketplace or property manager, and says a host may still have to register or report rental income and claim a 'Gross Sales Collected by Facilitator' deduction; it names Airbnb as collecting state and local retail sales tax, special hotel/motel taxes and convention and trade center taxes. Service fees or commissions charged by a marketplace or property manager cannot be deducted. The sources read do not say which other platforms collect, or whether a given booking site has done so for a given listing; check with the platform and the Department.

The statute and Department of Revenue pages saved for this state are tax provisions: RCW 82.08.020 (sales tax), RCW 67.28.180 (local lodging tax) and WAC 458-20-282 with the Department's marketplace and lodging guides. None of them sets a rule on whether or where a short-term rental may operate, requires a statewide registration, or limits what a city or county may require. We did not search the Washington Legislature's bill records or the chapters on landlord-tenant, local land use or hotel licensing, so this field is not a finding that Washington has no such law; it is marked for review until those are searched. Local ordinances, such as Bellingham's, set the licence and zoning rules.