Short-term rentals in Flagstaff, explained properly.

Every license names an emergency point of contact with a 24-hour phone number, and that contact's details are public. When a police officer asks about an emergency that needs a police response, the contact must be at the rental or reachable by phone or text within 60 minutes. The City may impose a $1,000 civil penalty for every 30 days the owner fails to keep current contact information on file, after at least 30 days' written notice for the first penalty (§ 3-12-001-0006).

Before offering a rental for the first time, the owner must notify in writing each single-family residential property next door, directly across and diagonally across the street; for a rental inside a multifamily building, the residents on the same floor. The notice, in the form the City requires, gives the license number, the rental's address and the emergency contact's name, address, email and 24-hour phone number. A new notice is due within 10 days after any change in the emergency contact, and the City can ask for an attestation listing who was notified and how. The City's owner page also describes annual written notification to adjacent properties as a prerequisite to applying or renewing; Chapter 3-12 as we read it requires notice at first rental and on contact changes.

Before offering or renting a short-term rental, the owner must carry liability insurance appropriate to the rental of at least $500,000 in the aggregate, or advertise and offer the rental through an online lodging marketplace that provides equal or greater coverage (§ 3-12-001-0011, enacted by Ordinance 2026-11). The City says most of the 2026 changes take effect at the owner's next renewal.

No later than 24 hours before every stay, the owner or the owner's designee must check the person booking against the U.S. Department of Justice's national sex offender public website and keep a record of the check for 12 months, available to the City on demand. The duty is satisfied or waived if the online lodging marketplace where the rental is advertised performs the check, but a marketplace's failure to check does not relieve the owner (§ 3-12-001-0012).

The owner must display the City short-term rental license number on each advertisement (§ 3-12-001-0008). The owner must also post a notice inside the rental within 10 feet of the primary entrance (§ 3-12-001-0009). The code sets its content: nonresidential and event uses are unlawful; no parking on City streets from midnight to 7:00 a.m. from November 1 to April 1; no fire pit, open-flame barbecue or grill in violation of current fire restrictions; waste and recycling containers curbside by 6:00 a.m. on collection day and removed the same day; the emergency contact; and the license number. The City says the updated posting text is included automatically on new and renewal licenses issued on or after July 1, 2026.

Smoke alarms with battery backup must be outside each sleeping area, in each sleeping room and on every story including basements. Carbon monoxide detectors are required in a rental with a fuel-burning appliance, fuel-burning fireplace or attached garage, outside each sleeping area and within each sleeping unit. At least one fire extinguisher rated 2-A:10-B:C must be mounted in a visible, accessible place or clearly marked, and serviced, inspected and tagged at least annually or after each use. Each unit must keep adequate means of egress free of obstructions, including snow and ice, and in most cases that means at least two distinct exit paths (§ 3-12-001-0013, enacted by Ordinance 2026-11).

Because of wildfire risk, the owner or the owner's designee must, while Stage 2 or higher fire restrictions are in effect, remove, disable or securely lock any fire pit, open-flame barbecue or grill so it cannot be used. They may be restored when restrictions drop to Stage 1 or Stage 0. Gas-fueled appliances with a functional on/off switch designed for safe shutoff are exempt (§ 3-12-001-0013(E)).

No one may use a short-term rental for a nonresidential use, including a special event that would otherwise need a permit or license or a retail, restaurant, banquet-space or similar use. The code also bars using a rental for housing sex offenders, sex trafficking, a sober living home, selling illegal drugs, liquor control violations, pornography, nude or topless dancing and other adult-oriented businesses, and for any other use that violates applicable laws, including local zoning, outdoor lighting standards, building and fire codes, current fire restrictions, health and sanitation, and noise regulations (§ 3-12-001-0007). The code does not prohibit a group home for persons with disabilities as the Americans with Disabilities Act allows.

The City's FAQ says a short-term rental is the rental of part or all of any legally permitted dwelling unit for fewer than 30 consecutive days. It lists single-family houses, buildings of 1 to 4 units, condominiums, townhouses, cooperatives or timeshares, individual rooms within any of those, and guest houses, casitas and mother-in-law quarters as eligible, and lists structures not approved as a dwelling unit, unsafe structures such as a garage or shed that do not meet health and safety standards, and campers, tents and RVs as not eligible. The owner page adds that converting a garage, workshop or other accessory structure needs the required building permits before work starts. Chapter 3-12 defines a short-term rental to include a dwelling unit in a multiple-family development offered as transient lodging.

An owner who rents without a valid license must immediately cease operating the rental until a valid license is obtained (§ 3-12-001-0003(C)). The City may impose a civil penalty of $1,000 per month if the owner or the owner's designee fails to apply within 30 days after written notice (§ 3-12-001-0004(E); Chapter 3-10 lists the same $1,000 amount). The City's owner page says a property found operating without a license gets a notification letter, and the owner must submit the online application within 30 days of that notice. Each violation of Chapter 3-12 is a civil offense, and each day a violation occurs is a separate offense (§ 3-12-001-0016(C)).

If an owner receives verified violations (final decisions, with no further right of appeal, on violations of state law or City Code provisions of the kinds listed in A.R.S. § 9-500.39(B) or (K)) for the same rental within 12 months, the City may impose $500 for the first, $1,000 for the second and $3,500 for the third and any later one. Violations from the same incident count as one. The City may suspend a license for up to 12 months after three verified violations within 12 months (not counting aesthetic, trash or parking violations that are not also a serious threat to health and safety) or after one verified violation involving a felony at or near the rental by the owner or designee, serious injury or death from knowing, intentional or reckless conduct, knowingly housing a sex offender or the other listed uses, or knowingly allowing a special-event or commercial use. A denial or suspension can be appealed to the City Manager within 10 calendar days, and a hearing officer's decision is final (§§ 3-12-001-0014 to 0017).

Applies to: Subject to change if state law is amended

A.R.S. § 9-500.39(A) bars Arizona cities and towns from prohibiting short-term rentals, and subsection (B) lists the only ways they may regulate them (health and safety rules, zoning and nuisance rules applied like other residential property, emergency contact, a local permit, neighbor notice, permit number in ads, insurance, and owner residency on some properties with an accessory dwelling unit). Permit caps and minimum-distance or spacing limits are not on that list, and the statute applies to cities of every size.

Short-term rental income (stays under 30 days) is subject to Arizona transaction privilege tax (TPT), so hosts need a TPT license from the Arizona Department of Revenue (a seasonal license can be chosen on AZTaxes.gov) and must include the TPT license number in any advertising for the rental. A city business license, where a city requires one, is separate from the TPT license.

Arizona's state transaction privilege tax rate on the transient lodging classification (A.R.S. § 42-5070) is 5.5%, set by A.R.S. § 42-5010(A)(2). County and city taxes are added on top and vary by location.

Hosts must file a TPT return for every period even if the property was not rented, filing a $0 return rather than skipping the filing.

Separately from tax licensing, every Arizona county requires residential rental properties to be registered with the County Assessor, and penalties can apply to rentals that are not registered. A.R.S. § 9-500.39(J) keeps this duty in place for short-term rental owners.