Short-term rental rules · Clawson, Michigan
Short-term rentals in Clawson, explained properly.
The City of Clawson requires a City registration and license for any dwelling unit used for short-term rentals for more than 14 days a year, except units registered as a principal residence exemption under Michigan's General Property Tax Act. No more than 18 licenses can be issued at one time, licenses last one year and must be renewed each December, and a license ends when the property is sold. Each rental needs a designated contact person with a 24-hour phone number, quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and occupancy is two persons per bedroom. A third violation within 12 months can cost the registration for 12 months, and violations carry a civil infraction fine of up to $500 per occurrence. We haven't reviewed the City's zoning provisions, the fee resolution or any City lodging tax yet, so confirm zoning and fees with the City before you buy. Whether Michigan's lodging use tax reaches a private host is also unsettled on this page.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are short-term rentals allowed? | Conditional: a dwelling unit used for short-term rentals for more than 14 days a year needs a City registration and license, and no more than 18 licenses can be issued at one time; we haven't reviewed the zoning code yet, so confirm zoning with the City before you buy. [1] ClauseConfirming |
| Is a City short-term rental registration and license required? | Yes: a dwelling unit used for short-term rentals for more than 14 days per calendar year must be registered and licensed with the City; a registration fee and an additional licensing fee are set by the City Council. Excluded: dwelling units duly registered as a principal residence exemption under Section 211.7cc of the General Property Tax Act. [1] Clause |
| Is there a cap on the number of short-term rental licenses? | Yes: no more than 18 short-term rental licenses can be issued at any one time. [1] Clause |
| Must the owner live on the property? | No: the owner doesn't have to live there. Each rental needs a designated contact person with a 24-hour phone number, and the registration form takes the name of the owner and/or the local agent. Dwelling units registered as a principal residence exemption are outside the license requirement. [1] Clause |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
License, renewal and transfers
| Can a license be transferred to a new owner? | No: when a short-term rental property is sold, the registration and license expire at the sale and are not transferable. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(a): 'When short-term rental property is sold, the registration(s) and license(s) will expire at sale and are not transferable.' A buyer who wants to continue short-term rentals would need to register and license the unit again, subject to the cap of 18 licenses in Sec. 34-354(c). |
|---|---|
| How long is a license valid? | One year; licenses must be renewed each December. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(a): 'Licenses are valid for one year and must be renewed each December.' |
| License fees | A registration fee is collected at registration and an additional fee at licensing; the amounts are set by City Council resolution and may vary by type of property or dwelling. The dollar amounts are in the City's fee resolution, which we haven't reviewed. [1] ClauseConfirming Sec. 34-354(b). Sec. 34-353(w) also says the owner pays a fee set by resolution of the city council and on file at city hall prior to registration. We haven't reviewed the City's current fee resolution or schedule, so the amount and its effective date are not on this page. Ask the City Clerk or building department for the current fee schedule. |
| Documents and information needed with the application | The registration form collects the owner's and local agent's name, address and phone, the street address, the number of bedrooms, the days available for short-term rental each year, and the year the unit was first used as a short-term rental. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(d) says Code enforcement develops the form and that it 'shall collect not less than' the listed items plus others the enforcement officer deems necessary. Item (5) asks for a statement of the year the unit was first used as a short-term rental and the number of days it was rented in the previous calendar year. The text of the list ends with the word 'and' after item (5) as published, so the list may be incomplete in the Code; ask the City for the current form. |
Operating rules
| Designated contact person and 24-hour phone | Required: each rental needs a designated contact person, and a notice in at least 16-point type naming that person and a 24-hour phone number must be posted in a prominent location in the unit. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(e)(1). The section also requires the unit to meet all applicable residential building, health department, nuisance and safety codes (Sec. 34-354(e)(2)). |
|---|---|
| Quiet hours | 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; noise during quiet hours must be limited to what does not disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(e)(3). Sec. 34-354(e)(4) adds that fireworks of any kind are not allowed on rental property, except in accordance with the City's fireworks ordinance, which we haven't reviewed. |
| Maximum occupancy | Two persons per bedroom, and never more than the Michigan Building Code and the International Property Maintenance Code allow; a short-term rental unit may not be built or modified to exceed a limit of ten persons. [1] ClauseConfirming Sec. 34-354(f). A person present in the unit during the rental is presumed to be an occupant unless it is between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and circumstances clearly indicate the person will not stay overnight. The section's last sentence refers to a 'limitation of ten persons as described above', but no ten-person figure appears earlier in the section, so confirm how the City applies it. |
Penalties & enforcement
| Penalties for violations | A violation of any aspect of Sec. 34-354 is a municipal civil infraction with a fine of no more than $500.00 per occurrence. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(h). Separately, a first or second violation within any 12-month period leaves the rental subject to a fine 'as provided by resolution from time to time' under Sec. 34-354(g)(2); the amount of that fine is in the City's resolution, which we haven't reviewed. |
|---|---|
| License revocation, suspension and appeals | After a third violation within 12 months the registration may be revoked and no new license issued to that owner or contact person for 12 months; after a fourth violation within 24 months the registration and license may be revoked and the premises may not be used as a short-term rental under that ownership name. At least 14 days' written notice precedes a hearing, and appeal is allowed. [1] Clause Sec. 34-354(g). Code enforcement starts the process; written notice of the charges and hearing goes by first class mail to the owner or contact person at least 14 days before the hearing before the enforcement officer (Sec. 34-354(g)(1)). A minimum of 14 days' notice is given for any suspension, and appeal from denial, suspension or revocation is allowed (Sec. 34-354(g)(5)). The informal hearing is before the City's building official, where the owner and contact person may show that extenuating circumstances beyond what they could reasonably anticipate, prevent or control mean they should not be held responsible for a violation (Sec. 34-354(g)(6)-(8)). |
State law that also applies
| Michigan use tax on rooms and lodging | Michigan's Use Tax Act taxes rooms or lodging furnished by hotelkeepers, motel operators and other persons furnishing accommodations that are available to the public on the basis of a commercial and business enterprise, at a combined 6% rate; rooms and lodging rented for a continuous period of more than 1 month are excepted. Whether a privately owned home rented to guests is covered is not settled by the statute text we saved. [2] [3] [4] Clause 1 Clause 2 Clause 3Confirming MCL 205.93a(1)(b) lists "rooms or lodging" among the services taxed under the Use Tax Act, and defines "hotel" or "motel" to include inns, tourist homes, lodging houses, resort lodges and cabins, and "any other building or group of buildings in which accommodations are available to the public," except accommodations rented for a continuous period of more than 1 month. MCL 205.93(1) sets the combined tax at 6% of the price of the services specified in section 3a. The saved text of both sections is complete. Whether an individual who rents out a home, directly or through a booking platform, is a person furnishing accommodations "available to the public on the basis of a commercial and business enterprise" isn't answered by that text; the Department of Treasury's guidance on short-term rentals wasn't available to us, so confirm with the Department of Treasury. The General Sales Tax Act section we saved (MCL 205.52) is a 6% tax on retail sales of tangible personal property. This page does not total state and local taxes. |
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| Do booking platforms collect Michigan taxes? | Not settled: MCL 205.95b requires a seller of tangible personal property or services subject to the Use Tax Act to register and collect the tax once it has more than $100,000 in sales into Michigan or 200 or more transactions in the previous calendar year, and counts a marketplace facilitator's own sales together with its marketplace sellers' sales. Whether a booking platform collects tax on lodging stays isn't answered by the text we saved. [5] ClauseConfirming The saved section refers to the definition of a marketplace facilitator in section 5c, which wasn't saved. It applies to transactions on or after October 1, 2018. Confirm with the Michigan Department of Treasury and the platform whether tax is collected on a given booking. |
| Can Michigan counties and cities add their own lodging taxes? | Michigan's Accommodations Tax Act (Act 263 of 1974) lets counties and local units of government impose an excise tax on persons engaged in the business of providing rooms for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes to transient guests, and the Community Convention or Tourism Marketing Act (Act 395 of 1980) provides for assessments on the owners of transient facilities to support tourism marketing programs. [6] [7] Clause 1 Clause 2 These statements come from the titles and section lists of the two acts; the section text (rates, exemptions, the definition of a transient-guest business and any voter approval) wasn't saved, and whether any local tax or assessment applies at a given address hasn't been reviewed. Act 263 was amended in 2024 (Act 35, effective April 2, 2024). |
| Is there a statewide short-term rental law? | Not settled: the Michigan sources saved for this page are tax statutes and the title and article list of the Zoning Enabling Act (Act 110 of 2006); no state short-term rental law and no section of the Zoning Enabling Act has been reviewed yet. [8] ClauseConfirming The Zoning Enabling Act is described in its title as codifying the laws on local units of government regulating the development and use of land and providing for the adoption of zoning ordinances, with articles on zoning authorization, adoption and enforcement, special zoning provisions and the zoning board of appeals. Its section text, any pending state bills, and Michigan court rulings on short-term rentals and zoning haven't been reviewed. |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We read Section 34-354, Short-term rental units, and the neighboring Sections 34-351 to 34-353 of the Clawson Code of Ordinances (Municode version of April 17, 2026) as saved on October 18, 2026. We haven't reviewed the City's zoning provisions, the fee resolution, any lodging tax provisions or City Council agendas yet, so we will watch the Code for changes.
Sources
Every rule above links to one of these
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.