Short-term rentals in Oklahoma City, explained properly.

Section 13-511 requires a verified written application on the Supervisor of Licenses' form giving the host's name, addresses and phone number; the number of bedrooms offered; a local contact's details if the host lives outside the City or State; verification that the dwelling and parcel meet the City's property maintenance, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes; verification of working smoke detectors, a working carbon monoxide detector and a functioning fire extinguisher; proof of ownership; proof that the dwelling is the host's primary residence; the owner's authorization if the applicant is a tenant; and the web address of every advertisement. The City's page lists the forms for a new license (application, property compliance form, immigration affidavit, primary residence affidavit, proof of ownership, a notarized owner authorization letter where needed, and at least three forms of ID showing primary residence); zoning verification is completed by City staff. Online licensing is marked as coming soon on the City's page.

Section 60-13-73 of the General Schedule of Fees sets the annual home sharing license fee at $110.40 for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 and $120.00 from July 1, 2026, with a 2.7% service fee added for credit or debit card payments. The City's Home Sharing License page lists the same amounts.

Section 59-9350.38.1(F) says a home sharing special exception may be granted for up to three years, and a renewal must be filed and accepted by Planning Department staff before the existing one expires or it is treated as a new application. Applicants must give the Board of Adjustment a site plan or photo of the parking spaces, and the rental must provide one off-street parking space for every four occupants (subsection H). The Board may deny an application based on a recorded restrictive covenant that specifically names home sharing/short term rental as a prohibited use of the property (subsection I), or on traffic concerns such as a nearby cul-de-sac, street width, neighborhood access or access for first responders (subsection J); subsections H and I do not prevent the timely renewal of a special exception issued before these rules took effect. Section 60-59-17 sets the Board of Adjustment fee at $1,100 for an initial home sharing special exception and $750 for a renewal, plus a 2.7% card fee. The City's page also lists the $1,100 fee.

Section 13-512 says no host may advertise a home sharing accommodation without the City-issued license number in a visible location on the advertisement. The City's page says the number must be clearly visible on all advertisements, including listings on rental platforms.

Section 13-514 says the Supervisor of Licenses investigates, and may suspend, revoke or deny the license, if the licensee is delinquent in Chapter 52 taxes, has two or more convictions (or pleas of guilty or nolo contendere) for Code violations relating to the rental or its parcel within 24 months, violates the article, or engages in any cause for suspension or revocation in section 26-19. After a suspension, revocation or denial under this section no home sharing license is approved for the same address for one year. Section 13-515 makes failing to obtain or show a required license, or otherwise failing to comply with the article, a Class "a" offense. The City's page says a conviction carries a fine of up to $500 plus court costs and fees, and each day of a continuing violation is a separate offense.

Section 13-500 defines home sharing/short term rental as lodging in a dwelling unit or rooms in a dwelling unit for less than 30 consecutive days per guest, where the dwelling is the host's primary residence (with a special exception required otherwise). It does not include a bed and breakfast, hotel or other facility separately defined in the Code. Rent means all payments to the host under the rental agreement except deposits and damages. The City's page says rentals of more than 30 days per guest are not home sharing and are not regulated by these ordinances.

Section 13-516 sets the maximum occupancy at any time at the number of bedrooms times two, plus two, or the number allowed by a Board of Adjustment special exception, but never more than 16 occupants. The limit applies to the whole site, including outdoor areas. A bedroom is a room intended for sleeping that meets the International Residential Code or International Building Code as adopted by the City.

Section 13-510(d) bars home sharing without complying with the City's building and fire codes, and section 13-511 requires the application to verify property maintenance, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing code compliance and working smoke detectors, a working carbon monoxide detector and a functioning fire extinguisher. Section 59-9350.38.1(B) repeats the safety requirements. The City's page says renting more than four bedrooms requires a review for International Building Code compliance.

Section 59-9350 (accessory dwelling standards, use restrictions G.2) says accessory dwellings may be used for home sharing only if the accessory dwelling is on the same parcel as the host's primary residence and the host occupies that residence at the time of the rental, and that a special exception must be obtained as described in section 59-9350.38.1(E).

Section 13-517 says nothing in the home sharing article invalidates or supersedes any restrictive covenant, deed restriction or lease agreement, and that the article is subject to any applicable overlay district or zoning restriction unique to an area or parcel.

Chapter 52, Article III of the Municipal Code (the Oklahoma City Hotel Tax Ordinance) levies an excise tax of 5.5% (section 52-63.1) and an additional excise tax of 3.75% (section 52-63.2, Ord. No. 27610, effective October 1, 2024) on the gross receipts from all rent for every occupancy of a room in a hotel in the City, so the two together are 9.25% of rent. A "hotel" for this tax is any facility where the public may obtain sleeping accommodations for consideration and two or more rooms are used for guests, including tourist homes, houses, lodging houses, rooming houses, bed and breakfasts and apartments. A permanent resident (someone who has stayed 30 consecutive days or more) is exempt. The City's Home Sharing License page still describes only a 5.5 percent hotel tax, owed if two or more bedrooms are rented; the rates above are from the Code.

Section 52-67 requires every hotel operator, before starting business, to file a certificate of registration and an affidavit and designation of operator with the Director (the City's Chief Financial Officer or designee). The operator must show the tax separately on all bills and receipts (section 52-65), is responsible for collecting it and is liable to the City for it (section 52-66), and must file a monthly report of occupancy, rents and tax due by the 15th of the following month (section 52-69). The City's Home Sharing License page says hosts must file monthly tax reports, that Airbnb and Vrbo have agreements with the City to collect and remit hotel taxes and file the monthly reports for their hosts, and that hosts using other services pay and report the tax themselves. City hotel tax that is delinquent blocks issuing or renewing the home sharing license.

Section 1354(A)(7) of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes levies an excise tax of 4.5% of the gross receipts or gross proceeds from the service of furnishing rooms by a hotel, apartment hotel, public rooming house, motel, public lodging house or tourist camp, unless the sale is exempted in the Oklahoma Sales Tax Code. The Oklahoma Tax Commission says the state sales and use tax rate is 4.5%, that local taxes may also apply, and that, except for residential utilities and certain food, local taxes apply to the same taxable items and services as the state tax; it also lists lodging among the transactions the state sales tax levy covers. The statute and the Commission's answers read do not say in so many words whether a private home or room rented for short stays is a "public lodging house"; owners should confirm their filing duty with the Commission. City and county rates are shown on each place's page.

Under sections 1391 and 1392 of Title 68, a marketplace facilitator is a business that lists or advertises a marketplace seller's products and, directly or through others, collects the buyer's payment and passes it to the seller. Since Senate Bill 1339 (effective January 1, 2023), "product" includes services and other transactions taxable under the Sales Tax Code, but not a hotel or motel built with more than 12 rooms. A facilitator with at least $10,000 of taxable Oklahoma sales in the previous 12 months must file an election each year with the Tax Commission either to collect and remit the tax or to comply with notice and reporting requirements; one that elects to collect must get a sales tax permit, and its collection duty also covers local sales taxes administered by the Commission. The Tax Commission says marketplace facilitators making sales of Oklahoma lodging may now be required to collect and remit state and local taxes. Which election a given platform has made is not stated in these sources; check with the platform. City hotel or lodging taxes are separate and shown on each place's page.

Section 1-1201 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes makes it unlawful to operate or maintain a hotel without a license from the State Commissioner of Health, which (unless a rule says otherwise) expires each June 30 and carries an annual fee set by the Commissioner. For this section, "hotel" includes any hotel, motel, tourist court, apartment house, rooming house or other place where sleeping accommodations are furnished or offered for pay to transient guests, if five or more rooms are available for transient guests. The statute does not say how the Department applies this to a house or apartment rented short-term; owners renting five or more rooms should check with the Oklahoma State Department of Health.