# Short-term rental rules in Boston, MA - Status: **HEAVILY REGULATED** - Last checked: 2026-09-05 (claims cite official sources; items we could not verify are listed below) - Canonical page: https://strwatch.ai/boston-ma/ ## Summary Boston allows rentals for fewer than 28 consecutive days only in eligible owner-occupied condominiums and one-, two-, or three-family residential buildings. A natural-person operator must own the unit. Limited Share and Home Share units must be the operator's primary residence; one Owner-Adjacent unit may be in the same owner-occupied two- or three-family building when all units have the same owner. Limited Share is capped at three guest bedrooms or six guests and costs $25 annually; Home Share is capped at five bedrooms or ten guests and costs $200 annually. Chapter 9-14 states no numeric guest cap for Owner-Adjacent, which costs $200 annually. City registration, a business certificate, $1,000,000 liability coverage unless qualifying platform coverage applies, and state registration of each property are required. Ineligible-unit violations are $300 per day; unregistered or suspended operation and failure to comply are $100 per day. Taxable rent generally carries 14.95% before any applicable 3% Community Impact Fee: 5.7% state, 6.5% Boston, and 2.75% Convention Center financing. Intermediary collection depends on a written agreement and is not assumed for every platform. ## At a glance - Unhosted whole-home rental: Conditional - Hosted rental (host present): Yes - Primary residence required: Yes - Guest cap: none verified - Rules apply to stays under: 28 days Notes: Home Share is the owner-operator's primary residence and is capped at five bedrooms or ten guests. Owner-Adjacent is one unit in the same owner-occupied two- or three-family dwelling, all under the same owner; Chapter 9-14 states no numeric occupancy cap for that category, so max_guests is null. Limited Share is part of the primary residence while the operator is present, capped at three guest bedrooms or six guests with one bedroom reserved for the operator. Primary residence means at least nine months in a 12-month period, supported by two listed documents. City STR status ends at 28 days; state room excise applies to rentals of 31 days or less. Furnished institutional or business stays of at least ten days under a qualifying contract are outside Chapter 9-14. Only one owner may register per unit, only one whole-unit listing may be offered at a time, and compliance records must be retained for three years. ## Requirements ### Short-Term Rental Registration (Inspectional Services Department) (registration) - Authority: City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) - Cost: $25/year (Limited Share Unit); $200/year (Home Share Unit); $200/year (Owner-Adjacent Unit) - Renewal: Annual; January 1-December 31 or an alternative 12-month period determined by the Commissioner - Official source: https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/document-file-08-2018/short-term_rental_ordinance.pdf - Notes: Limited Share costs $25; Home Share and Owner-Adjacent cost $200. The operator must be the owner, certify primary-residence and unit eligibility, certify compliance with condominium and other governing documents, and provide a 24-hour number for a local contact able to respond in person within two hours if the operator is absent. Registration is tied to the unit and operator, does not transfer on sale, and must appear on every listing. ### Liability insurance (insurance) - Authority: Commonwealth of Massachusetts (G.L. c. 175 s. 4F) - Cost: Minimum $1,000,000 coverage per short-term rental (premium varies) - Renewal: Must be maintained continuously while operating - Official source: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter175/Section4F - Notes: Operator must maintain liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for bodily injury and property damage arising from the STR unless a hosting platform maintains equal or greater coverage. Section 4F(f) also requires the operator to notify the homeowners or renters insurer of the intent to operate a short-term rental. ### Business certificate (DBA) with City Clerk (license) - Authority: City of Boston City Clerk - Cost: $65 filing fee; additional $35 for non-Massachusetts residents - Renewal: Every four years; $65 renewal filing fee - Official source: https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-clerk/how-apply-business-certificate - Notes: The City Clerk page specifically states that short-term-rental housing applicants must provide their ISD registration number, and states the fee and four-year renewal period. ### Abutter notification (other) - Authority: City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) - Cost: not verified - Official source: https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/document-file-08-2018/short-term_rental_ordinance.pdf - Notes: Within 30 days of approved registration, the Operator must notify abutters (any residential dwelling within 300 feet) that the unit has been registered as a short-term rental, and must post interior signage showing fire-extinguisher/exit/alarm locations (BMC 9-14.5(j)). State section 64G-14 additionally requires gas shutoff-valve information. ### Massachusetts room-occupancy operator registration (registration) - Authority: Massachusetts Department of Revenue - Cost: not verified - Renewal: Maintain a registration for each property and file required returns through MassTaxConnect - Official source: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/room-occupancy-excise-tax - Notes: All operators must register each property, including operators renting only through an intermediary. The certificate must be posted and the registration number supplied to an intermediary. Operators with tax due generally file and pay monthly by the 30th day after the reporting month. Rent-collecting intermediaries remit their bookings; operators report their direct taxable rent. Additional advance payments apply above $150,000 prior-year cumulative liability. A properly claimed property-level 14-day annual exemption must be renewed by January 15; exceeding 14 rental days makes the first 14 days taxable too. Registration fee, if any, remains unresolved. ### Conditional rental-unit inspection and delivery standards (inspection) - Authority: City of Boston Inspectional Services Department - Cost: $50 per unit in one-to-three-unit buildings or $75 per unit in other buildings when an ISD inspection is required; $15 filing fee; additional inspections after the first two are $50 each - Renewal: Non-exempt units: at least every five years; respond within 30 days of an inspection notice. Problem properties annually; chronic offenders every three years. - Official source: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-5667 - Notes: Section 9-14.5 preserves inspection duties for units otherwise subject to 9-1.3. Government-owned/operated units and units in owner-occupied dwellings with six or fewer rental units are exempt from its inspections. Non-owner-occupied rental units must still be registered annually by July 1; owner-occupied dwellings with six or fewer rental units are exempt from the $25 initial and $15 annual unit-registration fees, not registration itself. Section 9-14.5 also requires Rental Dwelling Unit Delivery Standards compliance. Confirm property-specific applicability with ISD. ## Taxes - **State room occupancy excise**: 5.7% (5% statutory base plus 0.7% surtax) — applies to Rent for stays of 31 consecutive days or less, including cleaning and booking charges, subject to exemptions. Rent below $15 per day and properly claimed rentals of no more than 14 days annually are exempt; see state registration notes.; platform collects: not verified. Source: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section3 - **Boston local option room occupancy excise**: 6.5% — applies to Rent for short-term rentals located in Boston; platform collects: not verified. Source: https://dls-gw.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdpage.aspx?rdreport=localoptions.room_tax_impact_fee - **Convention Center Financing fee**: 2.75% — applies to Rent for room occupancy (incl. short-term rentals) in Boston, Cambridge, Springfield, Worcester, West Springfield, Chicopee; platform collects: not verified. Source: https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/server/api/core/bitstreams/31bf150d-1fdd-415d-9497-d4a8f5224fa0/content - **Community Impact Fee (short-term rentals)**: 3% — applies to Boston adopted both 3% options: professionally managed units as defined by G.L. c. 64G, §1, and owner-occupied two- or three-family STR units; an operator's primary-residence units in a one- to three-family building are excluded from the professionally managed definition; platform collects: not verified. Source: https://dls-gw.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdpage.aspx?rdreport=localoptions.room_tax_impact_fee ## Enforcement - Penalties: BMC 9-14.9: offering an ineligible unit as a short-term rental is fined $300 per violation per day (9-14.9(a)); operating an eligible unit without registering, or while registration is suspended, is fined $100 per violation per day (9-14.9(b)); failure to comply with a notice of violation is $100 per violation per day (9-14.9(c)). Each day is a separate violation. Enforced via the M.G.L. c. 40 s. 21D noncriminal disposition process and the M.G.L. c. 40U 'Green Ticket' law (9-14.10(a)); the Commissioner may also seek an injunction. - Platform liability: The published 2026 S-2 code requires City enforcement agreements with booking agents and monthly listing reports (9-14.10–11). Current settlement-specific obligations and court restrictions on platform enforcement remain unresolved; this record does not establish whether any particular platform is liable for a fine or required to remove a particular listing. State section64G-13 imposes tax duties on intermediaries agreeing to collect or facilitate rent payment. - Notes: Ineligible units include below-market or income-restricted units and those under affordability covenants; units where law prohibits leasing or subleasing; units in Problem Properties or Public Nuisance Properties or owned by their owners; and units with three or more specified violations within six months. Outstanding building, sanitary, zoning, or fire violations suspend registration until cured. Chapter 9-14 does not impose a universal new pre-registration inspection: units must meet Rental Dwelling Unit Delivery Standards, and units otherwise subject to rental inspection and reinspection remain subject. Interior signage must identify extinguisher locations and, when applicable, fire exits and pull alarms. ## Unresolved research items - Owner-Adjacent units have no numeric occupancy cap in fetched Chapter 9-14; max_guests is null because six and ten apply only to Limited Share and Home Share. - The schema's collectedByPlatform boolean cannot express conditional intermediary collection under G.L. c. 64G, Section 13; all four tax values are null because collection depends on a written agreement and booking/payment arrangement. - Current court orders and settlement terms affecting platform enforcement remain unresolved; no comprehensive docket review completed. - Section 9-14 preserves Section 9-1.3 inspection duties only for units otherwise subject. Eligible owner-occupied STR categories may fall outside the non-owner-occupied rental-unit definition or within the owner-occupied six-or-fewer inspection exemption; property-specific applicability must be confirmed with ISD. - State registration fee, if any, remains unresolved. ## Sources - An Ordinance Allowing Short-Term Residential Rentals in the City of Boston (BMC ch. 9-14, full text PDF) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/document-file-08-2018/short-term_rental_ordinance.pdf - Short-Term Rentals - City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://www.boston.gov/departments/inspectional-services/short-term-rentals - M.G.L. c. 64G s. 3 - Room occupancy excise (5% base rate) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section3 - M.G.L. c. 64G s. 3A - Local option excise (Boston up to 6.5%) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section3A - M.G.L. c. 175 s. 4F - Short-term rental $1,000,000 liability insurance (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter175/Section4F - MA DOR/DLS - Room Tax & Impact Fee Effective Dates & Rates (Boston: 6.5% local excise + 3% community impact fee, eff. 7/1/2019) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://dls-gw.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdpage.aspx?rdreport=localoptions.room_tax_impact_fee - MA DOR TIR 01-15 - Convention Center Financing 2.75% fee on room occupancy (St. 1997, c. 152; administered under c. 64G) (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/server/api/core/bitstreams/31bf150d-1fdd-415d-9497-d4a8f5224fa0/content - Councilors vote to pass amended short-term rental ordinance - Boston.gov (news) (news, accessed 2026-07-17): https://www.boston.gov/news/councilors-vote-pass-amended-short-term-rental-ordinance - Short-Term Rentals in Boston: Regulation, Compliance, and Impact - BU Initiative on Cities (Nov 2025) (news, accessed 2026-09-04): https://www.bu.edu/ioc/2025/11/07/short-term-rentals-in-boston-regulation-compliance-and-impact/ - How to Apply for a Business Certificate — Boston City Clerk (official, accessed 2026-09-04): https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-clerk/how-apply-business-certificate - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.2 Definitions (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6354 - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.5 Requirements (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6389 - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.6 Registration (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6407 - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.9 Penalties (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6431 - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.10 Enforcement (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6436 - Boston Municipal Code 9-14.11 Data Sharing (2026 S-2) (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-6442 - Massachusetts DOR Room Occupancy Excise Tax Guidance (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://www.mass.gov/info-details/room-occupancy-excise-tax - G.L. c. 64G s. 1 Definitions (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section1 - G.L. c. 64G s. 3D Community Impact Fee (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section3D - G.L. c. 64G s. 6 Registration (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section6 - G.L. c. 64G s. 13 Intermediary Agreements (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section13 - G.L. c. 64G s. 14 Municipal Authority and Safety Posting (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64G/Section14 - BMC 9-1.3 — conditional rental registry and inspection (official, accessed 2026-09-05): https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-5667 --- Educational information, not legal advice. Published by STRWatch (Laniakea Technologies LLC).