Short-term rentals in Maysville, explained properly.

Sec. 205.01 defines a short-term rental as a dwelling or dwelling unit rented, leased or otherwise assigned for a tenancy of less than 30 consecutive days, where no meals are served. One structure may contain several such units and each separate unit is an individual short-term rental. The term does not include hotel or motel rooms, extended stay lodging facilities, bed and breakfast inns, bed and breakfast homes, group homes or boarding and lodging house rooms. A host is the owner of record of the real property, or a lessee under a written lease of it, who offers a dwelling unit or part of one for short-term rental.

A host is the owner of record of the real property, or a lessee under a written lease, who offers a dwelling unit or part of one for short-term rental (Sec. 205.01). Sec. 205.02(C)(1) requires the host's name, address, phone number and email and an emergency contact residing or located in Maysville, who is responsible for addressing any maintenance, safety concerns or nuisance complaints; the host provides the contact's information to transient users on arrival. Sec. 205.06(D) requires the contact's name, telephone number and email address, and the maximum occupancy, to be conspicuously posted within the rental.

Sec. 205.03 requires annual fire inspections by the Maysville Fire Department for all short-term rentals inside city limits. During or after the initial fire inspection of a new or previously unregistered rental, the Fire Department works with the Building Official to determine the maximum occupancy. Proof of the annual fire inspection and the maximum occupancy are part of the registration form (Sec. 205.02(C)(3) and (4)), and the maximum occupancy must be posted in the rental (Sec. 205.06(D)).

Sec. 205.06 makes it the host's duty to ensure (A) no more than one contract per short-term rental at a time; (B) no evidence of the short-term rental visible from the exterior of the structure except one non-illuminated sign of not more than four square feet in area; (C) the rental is in a permitted structure (primary residential structures and inspected, approved accessory areas); (D) the emergency contact and maximum occupancy are conspicuously posted inside; and (E) a host using a hosting platform includes the valid City-issued registration number in the advertisement.

Sec. 205.06(E) requires any host using a hosting platform to include the valid City-issued registration number in the short-term rental advertisement. Sec. 205.07(A) says registered rentals may be advertised for stays of fewer than 30 days on a hosting platform, and a host or owner who advertises an unregistered rental, or advertises in violation of the chapter, is subject to enforcement under Sec. 205.02. All advertisements and contracts must include language specifying the lawful maximum number of occupants and a clear statement that guests shall adhere to the City's Code of Ordinances, including its noise, nuisance, traffic and parking provisions.

The first paragraph of Sec. 205.02 says annual registrations are valid between July 1 and June 30 of each subsequent year. Subsection (E) says a registration expires one year from the date it is issued and is renewed annually. The two statements are not reconciled in the text, so the exact expiry date of a registration issued mid-year should be confirmed with the Comptroller. The Comptroller or the Director of the Maysville-Mason County Convention and Visitors Bureau may refuse to issue or renew a registration until outstanding penalties, fines and liens against the host or the property are paid in full (Sec. 205.02(G) and (H)).

Sec. 205.07(B): the platform must remove the listing within ten business days of notification identifying it by listing URL and displayed registration number and giving the reason. Sec. 205.07(C): the Comptroller or the Director may request monthly reports of the total number of short-term rentals in the City listed on the platform and the total nights rented, due on the last day of each month for the preceding month. Sec. 205.07(D): under KRS 65.8821 the Code Enforcement Board may subpoena platform information for a specific investigation of a suspected violation; the platform must notify its host within ten business days of receiving the subpoena and produce records within 21 days of giving that notice, except to the extent the host has sought relief in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Sec. 205.09(A) makes a violation of the chapter, other than one that is also a criminal offense under the Kentucky Revised Statutes, a civil offense enforced under the Code Enforcement provisions of Chapter 195. Sec. 205.09(B) says the penalty is as set forth in Sec. 205.02. Sec. 205.09(C) waives penalties only if the same or a similar violation has not occurred on the property within the same calendar year and the violation is remedied within seven days of issuance of the citation or within the time specified by the code enforcement officer. Sec. 205.09(D) also authorizes the Comptroller or the Director to bring civil actions in Mason County Circuit Court, including for injunctive relief. Penalty amounts are not set out in Chapter 205 and Chapter 195 was not read.

Sec. 205.02(J): if the property is subject to two or more civil violations, or the host is found to have twice violated the chapter for a given property within a 12-month period, the Comptroller or the Director may revoke the registration. A civil violation means a final, unappealable code enforcement order. The owner and host are notified and have 30 days to request an appeal, heard under Chapter 195; with no appeal the revocation becomes final on the 31st day after the initial action. Sec. 205.02(K): after a revocation the owner or host is ineligible for any new short-term rental registration for one calendar year from the date of revocation. Under Sec. 205.02(I) the Comptroller or the Director may deny or refuse to renew a registration for violating any applicable provision of the chapter.

Section 139.200 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes imposes a 6% sales tax on retailers' gross receipts from the rental of any room or rooms, lodgings, campsites or accommodations furnished by any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp or other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration. The tax does not apply to rooms or accommodations supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more to a person. The Department of Revenue says the statewide transient room tax is in addition to the 6% sales tax and any local transient room tax, and that for sales tax purposes the 1% statewide transient room tax is reported as part of taxable receipts, as local transient room taxes are. Local transient room taxes are shown on each place's page.

Section 142.400 imposes a statewide transient room tax of 1% of the rent for every occupancy of any suite, room, cabin, lodging, campsite or other accommodation charged by any place in which accommodations are regularly furnished to transients, or by any person that facilitates the rental by brokering, coordinating or otherwise arranging it. Rent does not include other state or local taxes, and stays supplied for a continuous period of 30 days or more to a person are excluded. Under section 142.402 the return and tax for each month are due to the Department of Revenue by the 20th of the next month. The Department of Revenue says this tax is in addition to the 6% sales tax and any locally assessed transient room tax and is reported separately each month.

The Department of Revenue says Airbnb and VRBO are collecting and remitting the 1% statewide transient room tax for all participating Kentucky hosts, that since January 1, 2023 these platforms must also report and pay local transient room tax on their total charges, including service fees, and that a business renting only through Airbnb or VRBO does not need its own state transient room tax account. Section 139.450 requires a marketplace provider whose own and facilitated sales of property or services delivered or provided in Kentucky exceed $100,000 to register for a sales and use tax permit and to collect the tax on each taxable retail sale it facilitates, and relieves the marketplace retailer of collecting tax on those sales. The sources read do not say which platforms collect the 6% sales tax on stays; check with the platform and the Department of Revenue.

No section of the Kentucky Revised Statutes regulating short-term rentals as such was found, so local governments' own rules apply. In the 2026 Regular Session, Senate Bill 112 would have barred local governments from requiring a conditional use permit for a short-term rental, imposing density-based limits, banning short-term rentals in residential zones or imposing a residency requirement on operators; its last action was referral to the Senate Committee on Committees on January 21, 2026. Senate Bill 54 (2026), which would have authorized local governments to regulate short-term rentals, was likewise last referred to the Committee on Committees on January 9, 2026. In 2025, Senate Bill 110 (no conditional use permits or density limits for short-term rentals) was last sent to the Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee. A similar bill could be filed in a later session.