Short-term rentals in Wichita, explained properly.

Section 3.40.040(b) says that if additional zoning approval is required for a non-owner-occupied unit, the application for it must be submitted to the Metropolitan Area Planning Department (MAPD) before the license application goes to the City's Licensing Department. The City's page says that in some cases an Administrative Permit is required by Section V.L. of the Unified Zoning Code and points to a chart by owner occupancy and zoning district. The chart did not come through clearly in the saved page text and the Unified Zoning Code was not read, so which properties need the permit is for review.

Section 3.40.060 sets the annual license fee for short-term rentals at $225.00, with a separate license for each dwelling unit or structure; the fee comes from Ordinance No. 52-265, which created the chapter (code history date 9-19-23). The City's short-term rental information sheet, dated 04/2026, lists the same $225.00 fee for a new or renewal license for each property and says it is non-refundable. A change in ownership requires the new owner to pay a new application fee and obtain a new license. A re-inspection fee of $50.00 applies in the cases described in the inspection rule.

Section 3.40.100 says a short-term rental license expires one year after the date of issuance. The information sheet asks applicants to allow 30 days for approvals before the expiration date when renewing.

Section 3.40.100(b) says a short-term rental license is not transferable to another person or location, and that a change in ownership requires the new owner or responsible party to pay a new application fee and secure a new license. The information sheet also lists the license as nontransferable.

Section 3.40.080 lists what the application sets out: the applicant's, owner's and responsible party's name, address and date of birth (for a corporation, its officers, managers or directors and anyone holding 25 percent or more of the stock); two proofs of owner occupation for an owner-occupied license; the unit's address, maximum occupancy and number of rooms; the person available 24 hours a day for complaints; a scaled floor plan on the City's form showing bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and exits; proof of the required insurance; a notarized statement of compliance with the chapter and other City codes and State statutes; a notarized statement that all applicable taxes on the property have been paid and that rental income is reported as taxable income to the Internal Revenue Service; a statement about any license ever denied, revoked or suspended; and a non-discrimination statement. The application form itself was not read (the City's site blocked the download), so the form may ask for more.

Section 3.40.080(d) requires an owner with no local address within thirty miles of the City limits to appoint a person or management company located within the City limits as Resident Agent, with written, express and actual authority to receive communications, service of process, summons and notices; subsection (e) requires the owner's notarized authorization. For a license held by a corporation, subsection (b) also asks for the Resident Agent and registered office. The City's information sheet words this more broadly (a corporation, LLC, or individual living more than 30 miles outside the City limits). The page follows the code; the difference is logged.

The chapter defines a short-term rental as the use of a residential dwelling unit or structure to provide rooms for temporary lodging, or lodging and meals, for transient guests for a period of 28 days or less for which compensation is paid to the owner or responsible party; the dwelling may be manager or owner occupied. A transient guest is a person who occupies a room for not more than 28 days at a time, other than the owner's immediate family (related by blood, marriage or adoption) or anyone residing with the owner. A short-term rental unit is the dwelling unit or portion of it rented for 28 days or less, and each dwelling unit in a multifamily apartment building rented for 28 days or less is its own unit. The definition of dwelling unit excludes hotels and motels.

Section 3.40.050(b) requires each owner or responsible party to pay all applicable local, state and federal taxes, including income taxes, associated with the operation of each short-term rental unit, and Section 3.40.080(m) requires a notarized statement that all applicable taxes on the property have been paid and that rental income is reported as taxable income to the Internal Revenue Service. The Kansas sales tax and transient guest tax framework is in the State section of this page. A City lodging tax rate was not read.

The City's page says property owners who are notified of a short-term rental application can protest it. Protests must be in writing, carry the signatures of all owners on record for the protesting property, and be submitted to the Metropolitan Area Planning Department, 271 West 3rd Street, 2nd Floor, Wichita, KS 67202, within 2 weeks of the date of the approval letter. If more than 50 percent of the eligible properties protest, the applicant can submit a Conditional Use application, which goes through a public hearing before the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and the City Council. This process comes from the City's page; the Unified Zoning Code that sets it was not read, so it is marked for review.

Section 3.40.050(c) requires liability insurance of at least $250,000 per short-term rental unit, covering damages to guests caused by the owner or responsible party and damages caused by guests or the owner that are suffered by other people, including neighbors and invited guests. Liability insurance provided by a third party, such as an online booking platform, is acceptable proof. Proof of insurance goes with the license application, and failure to maintain required insurance is a ground for revocation.

Section 3.40.120(a) limits overnight occupancy to a maximum of two adults per bedroom, plus an additional two adults for each unit excluding studio or efficiencies, so that a two-bedroom house has an overnight occupancy of six adults and a three-bedroom house eight. For this subsection an adult is any person over 12 years of age. The maximum overnight occupancy is also stated in the license application and on the Good Neighbor Agreement posted in the unit. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail, and each day is a separate offense (see the penalties rule).

Section 3.40.120(b) and (c) say gatherings of persons in excess of the maximum overnight occupancy may not exceed two times that occupancy or 20 persons, whichever is less, and that all such gatherings must conclude and attendees disperse by 10:00 p.m. Under Section 3.40.055 a short-term renter may not allow an event or gathering to exceed these limits, and outdoor sound amplifying equipment may not be used after 10:00 p.m. A violation is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail, each day a separate offense; the Zoning Administrator or any law enforcement officer can enforce it. A license can be suspended for up to 30 days if the licensee knew or should have known of a violation of these limits.

Section 3.40.055 requires a short-term renter not to allow noise that creates a nuisance or interferes with others' use and enjoyment, any event or gathering larger than the Section 3.40.120 limits, use of the property by anyone under 18 unless the renter remains on the premises at all times, consumption of alcoholic liquor or cereal malt beverage by anyone under 21, possession, use or consumption of illegal drugs, or outdoor sound amplification after 10:00 p.m. The section applies whether or not the property is properly licensed, and any law enforcement officer or the Zoning Administrator can issue a criminal complaint. A conviction is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail, and each day is a separate offense.

Chapter 5.08 (Ordinance No. 52-544, 9-10-24) defines a Nuisance Party as a social gathering of five or more people on residential property used or advertised as a short-term rental that results, at the site, on neighboring property or on an adjacent public street, in any of 16 listed events, including unlawful alcohol, a violation of the noise chapter (Chapter 7.41), assault or battery, property damage, littering, obstructing traffic with vehicles, fireworks violations, and unlawful hosting of minors consuming alcohol. Section 5.08.020 makes it unlawful for a responsible party, short-term renter, transient guest or anyone with the right of possession to cause, allow or permit a gathering to become a Nuisance Party. A responsible party is liable only if on the premises when the violation occurs, if told of it by law enforcement or another City or County official and failing to stop or disperse the party, or if the facts show the responsible party knew or should have known. Anyone not living at the site must leave at once when a police officer orders it, and continuing a nuisance party for an hour or more after an order to disperse is a separate violation.

Section 3.40.050(e) requires the City-issued license number on all marketing materials for each short-term rental unit, including business cards, printed or written material, internet postings, postings on any booking service or housing platform, electronic billboards and telephone information. Section 3.40.060(c) makes advertising a structure as a short-term rental without the current license number unlawful.

Section 3.40.050(d) and (f) require a copy of the license and a current Good Neighbor Agreement to be displayed inside each unit. The City provides the Good Neighbor Agreement, which tells guests the maximum overnight occupancy, the maximum gathering occupancy and the relevant City ordinances, and explains that guests must comply with City ordinances and State statutes.

Section 3.40.050(g) requires the owner to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or to designate a Responsible Party who is, to respond to complaints about the operation or occupancy of the rental. That person must be able to come to the premises, if required, within 30 minutes to resolve a complaint. The application asks for the name, phone number, email and business address of that person. The City's page lists a 24-hour number, 316-844-1412, answered by a monitoring service hired by the City, for reports from neighbors.

Under Section 3.40.070 a complaint filed with the Zoning Administrator triggers an inspection by the Inspection Team (Planning, Building and Construction, and Fire) against the housing, fire, building, zoning and other City codes. If violations are found the team must re-inspect, and no license is re-issued until the re-inspection is completed and violations are remedied. The re-inspection fee is $50.00, and the same $50.00 fee applies to an owner or responsible party who fails to appear for or refuses consent to a scheduled inspection, unless it is rescheduled with at least seven days' notice to the Planning Department. Section 3.40.110 lets the team inspect the exterior of each unit without prior notice during the license period, and the interior after 72 hours' written notice to the owner or licensee, absent exigent circumstances or reasonable suspicion of unsafe conditions; if consent is denied it may seek an administrative search warrant or other lawful means.

Section 3.40.170 makes owning, operating or managing a short-term rental in violation of a license, or without a required license, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail, with each day a separate offense; the City may also seek an injunction or revocation. The written violation notice must give a 30-day compliance period (or longer), except for violations of Section 3.40.055 (renter conduct) and Section 3.40.120 (occupancy and gatherings), which carry the same fine and jail range without that period. Under Chapter 5.08, a first conviction for a nuisance party is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500; a second or later violation carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,500 or up to one year in jail, or both. If the defendant is a licensee, the court may also suspend the license for up to 10 calendar days.

Section 3.40.090 requires denial or non-renewal if the premises do not comply with the health, housing, fire and zoning codes, the application is false, misleading or incomplete, or, within the prior five years, the applicant or a 25 percent interest holder committed a violation of the chapter or had a short-term rental license suspended or revoked. Section 3.40.140 lets the Zoning Administrator suspend a license for up to 30 days if the licensee knew or should have known of an occupancy or gathering violation, or the premises do not comply with the chapter or City codes. Section 3.40.150 lets the City Council revoke a license, on the Zoning Administrator's recommendation, for fraud in the application, two or more violations within 12 months, failure to maintain insurance, ineligibility, failure to comply within the initial compliance time, or nonpayment of fees. Under Section 3.40.160 an applicant or licensee may file a written notice of appeal with the City Clerk within 10 business days; a hearing is set within 30 days, an appeal stays a suspension or revocation until it is heard, and the Council's decision can be appealed to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court of Kansas, which does not stay it.

The Kansas Department of Revenue guide for hotels, motels and restaurants (KS-1540) gives the current state sales tax rate as 6.5% and says counties and cities may add a local sales tax; retailers collect the combined rate. For sales tax, the guide counts a bed and breakfast, cabin camp, hotel, motel, tourist cabin or court, and any other lodging unit with at least four sleeping rooms available for rent to the general public as a hotel, and it counts a business that keeps an inventory of two or more rooms in one or more locations offered for pay as an accommodation broker. It says sales tax applies to the rental of sleeping rooms regardless of the length of stay, including stays of more than 28 consecutive days. Which of these descriptions fits a particular host depends on how many rooms are offered and on how the rental is run; confirm with the Department of Revenue. The saved copy of the guide ends with the revision mark 02-21 and a newer revision was not found, so the rate and room counts are marked for review. Local sales tax rates and the treatment of booking platforms were not read for this layer.

Some Kansas cities and counties charge a transient guest tax on top of sales tax. The Department of Revenue says it applies when more than two bedrooms are furnished for guests and the room is rented for 28 consecutive days or less, and that the local rate comes from the city or county clerk. Kansas law lets counties impose the tax, and lets cities impose it if the county has not; the guide says a county and a city in it are generally barred from both imposing it. The tax is collected by the lodging operator and remitted to the Department of Revenue, which returns 98% to the city or county for promoting tourism and keeps 2% for its costs. Accommodation brokers with two or more rooms must also collect it. The guide lists only two exemptions: a direct purchase by the federal government, and a room rented to the same guest for more than 28 consecutive days. Whether and at what rate a given city or county has imposed the tax was not read for this layer.

The guide says a lodging business must have its tax registrations before opening, applies through the Department of Revenue's Customer Service Center, and receives an account number and a Certificate of Registration. How often returns are filed depends on the amount of tax collected; the guide says most hotels and restaurants remit sales and transient guest taxes monthly, and that monthly sales and transient guest tax returns are due on the 25th of the month following the close of the reporting period. A return is due for every reporting period even when there are no taxable sales (a zero return, which can be filed online). A retailer that files sales tax quarterly or annually can choose to file the transient guest tax return at the same time. Transient guest tax uses Form TG-1 and the Department's electronic filing.