Short-term rentals in Saratoga Springs, explained properly.

Section 136A-4(C) says the City may elect to establish limitations on the total number of licenses and/or the number of licenses for primary residences and non-primary residences. The chapter text gives the City the power to set such limits; any figure or limit adopted by resolution or other act hasn't been reviewed yet.

If the property is sold, gifted, acquired or bequeathed to a different owner, the new owner must obtain a new license under the code.

The definition (amended 1-21-2025 by L.L. No. 2-2025) lists residential buildings, apartments, single-family and two-family dwellings, condominiums, townhouses, guest houses, cottages, cabins and accessory dwelling units. House sitting is excluded when the house sitter occupies a principal residence while the owner is away, provides security, maintenance or child or pet care, and pays no money or other consideration for the occupancy.

The application also needs an owner list, proof of ownership (deed, tax bill, or note and mortgage), a signed and notarized safety affidavit, proof of insurance, property contact details and the application fee. A tenant or other person in lawful possession who is not the owner does not qualify without the owner's written permission, verified by the City. A failed renewal inspection means the renewal is denied, subject to proof of proper resolution within 30 days of the failed inspection. The Accounts Department may issue the license with or without conditions, or deny it with written reasons; grounds include an incomplete application, a revocation of an owner's license within the previous year, a failed affidavit or inspection, or refused access for an inspection.

The insurer must be licensed to write insurance in New York or a duly licensed excess line broker under Insurance Law section 2118.

Section 136A-5(A)(3) lists the affidavit standards, including serviceable electrical systems, vented and properly installed fireplaces and heaters with flues cleaned within 12 months and annually after, a posted notice of parking spaces, and compliance of pools and decks with the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. Section 136A-6(B) requires each rental to comply with the occupancy limit set by its certificate of occupancy.

The fee to apply for a license, and the costs of fire inspections, are each established from time to time by resolution of the City Council. The fee schedule and its effective date hasn't been reviewed yet.

Section 136A-4(B) protects an owner who was renting a short-term rental as of the effective date of the chapter, provided the owner obtained a license by June 1, 2025. That date has passed.

A license holder can request a violation hearing in writing within 30 days of the violation being received. After a first revocation the owner may not reapply for one year; after an earlier revocation, not until five years after the revocation.

Section 136A-9 applies to anyone who violates the chapter, assists a violation, or owns or operates a property where a violation occurs. The Code Enforcement Officer may bring a civil proceeding in City Court, and the City may seek injunctive relief and legal fees in State Supreme Court with City Council authorization.

New York's Real Property Law article 12-D (sections 447-a to 447-g) covers short-term rental units: an entire dwelling unit or any room or space in a dwelling rented to guests for fewer than 30 consecutive days for tourist or transient use. It does not cover New York City. Every county that is a covered jurisdiction must set up a registration system (counties may share one), unless the county adopted a local law opting out by the later of December 31, 2025 or nine months after the section took effect. Places that already had their own short-term rental registration system when the article took effect, and places that ban short-term rentals, are not covered jurisdictions. In a covered area, a host must register the unit with the county; registration lasts two years, a tenant who is not the permanent occupant or lacks the owner's written permission cannot register, and the registration number must appear on every listing. The unit must not be a single room occupancy, must have a posted evacuation diagram, a posted list of police, fire and poison control numbers and a working fire extinguisher, must be insured for at least $300,000 for third-party property damage and bodily injury (a booking service's insurance can count), and must not be a rent-regulated unit. Booking services may not collect a fee for a unit whose county registration they have not verified. The host requirements and the booking-service check do not apply until the county has set up its registry. Counties warn hosts for the first two violations, may fine up to $200 for a third and up to $500 a day for each later violation, with a seven-day cure period. Any county, city, town or village may pass a local law prohibiting or further limiting short-term rentals. Check your county's website for its registry.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance says that, effective March 1, 2025, New York State and local sales tax applies to sales of short-term rental unit occupancy in the state when the rental rate is more than $2.00 per unit per day. A guest pays the tax until becoming a permanent resident by staying in the unit for 90 consecutive days. A $1.50 per unit per day fee applies only in New York City. Counties, cities, towns and villages may charge their own additional occupancy tax, which they administer themselves; those are listed on each city page.

Publication 718 of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (rates effective March 1, 2025) lists the state rate as 4% and the combined state and county rate for each county and for cities with their own rate. Erie County is listed at 8 3/4% with no separate city rate. The Department's online Sales Tax Jurisdiction and Rate Lookup gives the rate for a specific address. Local hotel or occupancy taxes are separate and are listed on each city page.

A booking service (a platform that provides the place where the sale happens and collects the rent) that facilitates a short-term rental stay in New York must register with the Tax Department as a sales tax vendor and collect New York State and local sales tax on every stay it facilitates. It must give its hosts Form ST-155, Booking Service Certificate of Collection, within 90 days, or have a publicly available agreement saying it will collect the tax. A host whose stays are all facilitated by a booking service, and who has that certificate or agreement, does not collect the sales tax on those stays.

A host (operator) of a short-term rental unit in New York must register with the Tax Department as a sales tax vendor and collect New York State and local sales tax on stays, unless the host rents out their own property for 3 days or less in a calendar year without a booking service, or a booking service handles all of the host's sales. Registration is done through New York Business Express.