Short-term rentals in Rockaway Beach, explained properly.

The City does not issue more licenses than the Council total, except licenses granted under the license-availability exception for buyers who were under contract before the 2024 amendments took effect (Sec. 113.02(F)) and licenses for the under-construction list (Sec. 113.02(H)), which do not count against the total. Renewals take priority: existing licenses with a complete renewal application and payment received by July 31 are served first, and after July 31 new applications come from the waiting list if existing licenses are below the total. The waiting list is chronological by time stamp, positions are personal and not transferable, and a contacted owner has ten business days to submit a complete application. The under-construction list required a certificate of occupancy and a complete application by March 29, 2026; after that date remaining owners moved to the new license waiting list. We haven't reviewed the Council resolution, so the current total number of licenses isn't stated here.

The license is issued to the owner and may be transferred with the sale or conveyance of the property. Every license holder must report any change of ownership to the City before the transfer, and new owners must notify the City within 30 days of closing to effect the license transfer. Waiting-list positions, by contrast, are personal to an owner and cannot be transferred.

The owner or local agent must keep a telephone number listed within the rental unit and at the City, reachable 24/7 year-round, and must provide an email address or contact number that the City publishes in an online database. The rental unit must also carry an identification sign listing the City's 24/7 complaint hotline.

The count applies to each dwelling unit. Garage spaces may count if available to renters at all times the unit is rented. Boat and all-terrain-vehicle trailers must fit within an allocated space. A parking plan map and notice must be posted in the rental and a parking diagram submitted with the application, and the maximum number of spaces available to the renter must be conveyed to each renter before the visit.

The standard is measured at the property line of the licensed property.

Chapter 113 also says no recreational vehicle may be used as a short-term rental unless it has been properly permitted as a dwelling unit in the RMD zone. We haven't reviewed the zoning code, so confirm with the City before relying on that wording.

Proof of coverage is part of the standards each rental unit must meet. The chapter doesn't set a coverage amount.

The hotline sign must use City artwork, be visible from the street and legible from 10 feet away; inside a condominium it goes on the unit's main entrance door. The owner must post a copy of the license in a prominent location, post information to help renters in natural disasters, power outages and other emergencies, and post a copy of the City's regulations prohibiting fireworks.

The owner or local agent must notify renters that all garbage stays in the secured containers, and no garbage may leak or be scattered on streets, sidewalks or other public ways.

For each booking the registry records the dates and total days rented, whether the whole unit or guest rooms were rented, the number of rooms if rooms were rented, and the booking service used. For the whole year it records the total days rooms were rented and the total days the entire unit was rented. Starting with renewals for the July 1, 2027 license period, a licensed property must have been rented at least 30 days in the preceding 12 months to be eligible for renewal, and the guest registry may be requested as proof.

It is a violation to fail or refuse to apply for a license or to operate without one. Revocation of a license does not waive short-term rental fees and taxes due at the time of revocation.

After a revocation the owner may reapply for a new license after the 12 months; a new license is subject to the license cap and waiting list described above. A license is not renewed if the owner is out of compliance with the chapter or other city code for the property.

Section 320.305 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (the edition read) imposes a tax of 1.5 percent on any consideration charged for the sale, service or furnishing of transient lodging, computed on the total retail price including all charges other than taxes; the tax becomes due when the occupancy ends, and the collector may withhold a collection reimbursement charge of five percent of the amount collected. The Department of Revenue says the rate is 1.5 percent for stays ending on or before December 31, 2026 and 2.75 percent for consideration charged on or after January 1, 2027, and that receipts and invoices must label the new 1.25 percent as a "nature conservation fee" (Chapter 140, Oregon Laws 2026); the Legislature's overview of House Bill 4134 (2026) says the Act increases the state transient lodging tax and applies the increase to charges occurring on or after January 1, 2027. We haven't reviewed the enrolled text of House Bill 4134, so the 2.75% figure rests on the Department of Revenue page. Transient lodging includes houses, cabins, condominiums, apartment units and other dwelling units used for temporary human occupancy. A dwelling unit used by the general public for fewer than 30 days a year is exempt, but that exemption does not apply to a unit rented out through a platform provided by a transient lodging intermediary; a stay of 30 days or more by the same person is also exempt. Returns and payments for the state are due by the last day of the month after each calendar quarter. Local city and county lodging taxes are shown on each place's page.

Under ORS 320.305, the tax is collected by the transient lodging provider or the transient lodging intermediary that collects the consideration charged for occupancy, or by an intermediary that requires the provider to use a specified third-party entity to collect it (ORS 320.300(12)(c)). A transient lodging intermediary is a person other than the provider that facilitates the retail sale of transient lodging and charges for or collects the consideration, or receives a fee or commission and requires the provider to use a specified third party to collect it. The Department of Revenue says whoever collects payment for the occupancy is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax, and that a host whose bookings are all handled through an intermediary, and will not be handled by the host in the foreseeable future, does not need to complete a return. A collector must give the guest an invoice or receipt that shows the sum of all transient lodging taxes charged (ORS 320.303). For local lodging taxes, ORS 320.360 puts the duty to collect and file on the same provider or intermediary that collects the payment, unless a local charter, ordinance or agreement provides otherwise. The sources read do not name particular platforms; check with the platform and the Department of Revenue.

We reviewed ORS chapter 320 (the transient lodging tax sections, 320.300 to 320.365), the Department of Revenue's Transient Lodging Tax page and the Legislature's overview of 2026 House Bill 4134 (an increase in the state lodging tax). These set a tax and who collects it. They do not license short-term rentals, set zoning, or limit what cities and counties may require; ORS 320.305 says the state tax is in addition to any local transient lodging tax, and the Department of Revenue says cities and counties set their own lodging tax rate. We haven't reviewed Oregon's land-use, landlord-tenant or other chapters, or other 2025 and 2026 bills, so this is a statement about the sources reviewed, not about all Oregon law. A similar bill could be filed in a later session.