District of Columbia HOA Short-Term Rentals

Quick-Reference Table

Last verified: July 17, 2026

Cooperative note: Cooperatives are a major District housing type. A cooperative isn't governed by the Condominium Act; the cooperative's proprietary lease (occupancy agreement) and bylaws control subletting and transient occupancy, and this page addresses those documents in the prose below, since the table schema above is organized by condominiums and planned communities.

Section 1: Overview — Can an HOA restrict short-term rentals in the District of Columbia?

Short-term rentals in the District are already tightly restricted by District law, and a condominium or cooperative may layer additional restrictions on top — up to a full prohibition — through its governing documents. The District regime limits short-term rentals to a host's primary residence, caps un-hosted "vacation rentals" at 90 nights per calendar year, and requires a license from the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, DLCP.² For condominiums, the DC Condominium Act (D.C. Code § 42-1901.01 et seq.) supplies the governance backstop, but the declaration and bylaws form the central source of an association's authority over leasing.¹⁰ Cooperatives, a prominent form of common-interest housing in the District, answer instead to the proprietary lease and the cooperative's bylaws, under which boards typically hold strong authority over subletting and transient occupancy.¹¹ The Short-Term Rental Regulation Act of 2018 (D.C. Law 22-307) established the government layer, and its core requirements run licensing, the primary-residence limitation, and the un-hosted night cap.² The government regime and building rules stand as distinct layers that both apply: the District regime regulates the host-to-government relationship, while an association's authority comes from its recorded documents, and compliance with one layer doesn't establish compliance with the other. Planned communities that are neither condominiums nor cooperatives run uncommon in the District, a dense urban jurisdiction with no comprehensive planned-community statute. The District stands as one of the strictest government STR jurisdictions in the country, which means the practical question for most buildings isn't whether short-term rentals are allowed at all, but how far a building wants to go beyond the baseline District limits. The sections below lay out the legal framework, the operational mechanics, and recent legislative activity.

Section 2: The legal framework for HOA short-term rental restrictions

2A. Governance by housing type: condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities

The District governs common-interest housing by type, and it isn't a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, UCIOA, jurisdiction. Condominiums fall under the District of Columbia Condominium Act of 1976 (D.C. Code § 42-1901.01 et seq.), which applies to every condominium created in the District.¹⁰ Under the Act, the recorded declaration and bylaws form the operative source of an association's authority, and the statute functions as the governance and amendment backstop. The Act expressly authorizes a unit owners' association to "reasonably restrict the leasing of residential units," § 42-1903.08(a)(14A), which stands as the statutory anchor for condominium rental rules.¹

Cooperatives make up a major District housing type and answer to different governance. A District cooperative is a corporation, and its governance runs through the articles and bylaws and, critically, the proprietary lease — also called the occupancy agreement — between the cooperative corporation and the shareholder. General cooperative associations organize under the District of Columbia Cooperative Association Act (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 9).¹¹ Because a cooperative shareholder holds shares plus a lease rather than fee title, the cooperative board generally holds strong contractual authority over subletting and transient occupancy through the proprietary lease, and this authority doesn't derive from the Condominium Act. An analysis that applies Condominium Act provisions to a cooperative misstates the governing law.

Planned communities that are neither condominiums nor cooperatives run uncommon in the District. Where they exist, they answer to recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions, CC&Rs, to District nonprofit corporation law (D.C. Code Title 29), and to common law. The District has no comprehensive planned-community statute equivalent to the Condominium Act, so authority and procedure for those associations turn on the recorded documents rather than a use-specific statute.

2B. The District short-term-rental regime

The Short-Term Rental Regulation Act of 2018 (D.C. Law 22-307) created the District's government layer and is codified at D.C. Code § 30-201.01 et seq.² The Act requires a valid basic business license with a "Short-Term Rental" endorsement in addition to any other required license, § 30-201.02.⁵ It limits short-term rentals to the host's primary residence, defined by reference to eligibility for the homestead deduction, §§ 30-201.01 and 30-201.02.¹² It distinguishes a hosted "short-term rental," where the host is present, from an un-hosted "vacation rental," where the guest has exclusive use of the property; a vacation rental may operate for no more than 90 nights cumulatively in a calendar year, subject to narrow hardship exemptions, and each stay is limited to 30 or fewer continuous nights, § 30-201.06(e).⁶ Hosts must pay all applicable transient lodging taxes, which a booking service may collect and remit, § 30-201.06(d).⁶

The license application requirement is the direct link between the two layers. Under § 30-201.03, an applicant whose short-term rental sits on property within a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners association must provide proof that the association permits the operation of a short-term rental.¹³ The government regime therefore requires hosts to comply with building rules, and a building's prohibition gets effectively enforced through both private channels and the District licensing process.

DLCP administers the regime. Its predecessor agency, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, began accepting short-term rental license applications on January 10, 2022, and enforcement began June 9, 2022, after the original April 10, 2022 enforcement date got pushed back.¹⁴ DLCP quantifies the regulated market at more than 5,100 short-term and vacation rentals in the District.⁴ Because the regime already restricts short-term rentals citywide through the primary-residence requirement and the un-hosted night cap, short-term rentals run tightly limited before any building rule even enters the picture. The regime regulates the host-to-government relationship; it doesn't grant a building its authority, and it doesn't remove a building's power to impose stricter rules.

2C. Building-level restrictions, amendments, and the interaction

A condominium adopts or strengthens a rental restriction by amending the declaration or bylaws. Amendment of the condominium instruments generally requires the agreement of unit owners holding two-thirds of the votes in the association, or any larger majority the instruments specify, § 42-1902.27(b).³ A change to the uses to which a unit is restricted requires the unanimous consent of the unit owners, § 42-1902.27(e)(5) — which is why associations typically frame short-term-rental rules as leasing restrictions under § 42-1903.08(a)(14A) rather than as outright use conversions.¹ The Condominium Act builds in grandfathering: a leasing restriction doesn't apply to a unit that's leased at the time the restriction is adopted, until the unit is later occupied by the owner or ownership transfers, § 42-1903.08(a)(14A).¹

Cooperative restrictions operate through the proprietary lease and the bylaws, and get amended according to the procedures in those documents and the corporation's governing law rather than the Condominium Act. Cooperative boards commonly require board consent for any sublet and may prohibit transient occupancy outright through the lease.¹¹

The two layers stack. A host may hold a valid DLCP license yet remain barred by building rules, and a building may permit short-term rentals that the District regime still restricts through the primary-residence and night-cap limits. Compliance with one layer doesn't establish compliance with the other, and a manager or board should analyze both independently.

Section 3: Operational mechanics and enforcement

A. Adopting a valid restriction (the tools)

For condominiums, the primary tools are a minimum-lease-term provision or a transient-rental restriction placed in the declaration or bylaws, adopted under the amendment thresholds in § 42-1902.27 and grounded in the leasing-restriction power at § 42-1903.08(a)(14A).¹ This statutory power operates subject to the governing documents, and the documents may set a larger required majority than the statutory two-thirds.³ A percentage cap on the number of leased units is permitted as a form of reasonable leasing restriction under § 42-1903.08(a)(14A); the statute sets no numeric cap, so the figure is a matter for the governing documents. An association may also impose internal registration or owner-information requirements as part of its rulemaking power under § 42-1903.08(a)(1).¹

For cooperatives, the tools are subletting and transient-occupancy restrictions in the proprietary lease and bylaws. These are contractual and corporate instruments, so their content and amendment answer to the lease and bylaws rather than the Condominium Act.¹¹

B. Enforcement

A condominium association may levy a reasonable fine for a violation of the condominium instruments or rules, but only after notice and an opportunity to be heard, § 42-1903.08(a)(11).¹ The association may also institute litigation in its own name, including an action for injunctive relief, on any matter that affects the condominium, § 42-1903.08(a)(4).¹ Unpaid amounts that qualify as assessments become a lien on the unit from the time they're due and payable, enforceable by a power-of-sale foreclosure subject to the statutory notice procedures, § 42-1903.13.⁸ Whether a particular fine may be collected as an assessment lien depends on the governing documents and the statutory definition of the amounts secured by the lien, § 42-1903.13(a).⁸

Cooperative enforcement runs through the proprietary lease. A cooperative that establishes a lease default for unauthorized subletting or transient use may pursue the contractual and corporate remedies available under the lease and bylaws, which can include termination of the proprietary lease.

Building enforcement stays separate from DLCP enforcement of the District regime. DLCP may issue administrative penalties, refer violations to the Office of the Attorney General, and suspend or revoke a license endorsement.⁵ A building violation and a District violation get analyzed and pursued independently, and a host can face action on both fronts at once.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent measures

B. Recent rulings

No qualifying published opinion of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals decided in the past 36 months addresses the enforceability of condominium or cooperative rental restrictions, proprietary-lease disputes over transient occupancy, or the District short-term-rental regime.⁹ As context only: a widely reported dispute between host Rochanne Douglas and guest Shadija Romero, in which a guest overstayed a 32-day Airbnb booking, resolved at the trial level when a Superior Court judge ruled on December 11, 2025 that the guest had no tenancy rights. That decision is a trial-level ruling, not appellate precedent, and it's one driver of the pending legislation described above.¹⁹ This check deserves confirmation against the Court of Appeals opinions portal before each quarterly update.

C. Active debates

Two Mayoral bills are pending before the Council: B26-0647, which would expand who may host and consolidate the license categories, and B26-0757, which would tighten the treatment of overstaying short-term-rental guests. Neither would reduce a condominium's or cooperative's authority to restrict short-term rentals through its governing documents.¹⁶

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

The District stands as a leading example of a strict government short-term-rental regime layered over private building authority. It pairs a primary-residence requirement with a 90-night annual cap on un-hosted vacation rentals, which places it toward the restrictive end of the national spectrum, in contrast to states that leave the question largely to the declaration and to states that limit an association's rental authority by statute.² The District regime regulates hosts, not buildings; a building's authority to go further comes from the declaration, the proprietary lease, or the CC&Rs, and it may run stricter than the government baseline. For a multi-jurisdiction operator entering the District, the practical implication: two layers need clearing at once — a strict government regime administered by DLCP, plus active condominium and cooperative rules, with cooperatives more prominent here than in most jurisdictions.

HOA Weekly's Washington DC Short-Term Rentals coverage updates quarterly as the Council, the DC Court of Appeals, and DLCP act. Federal frameworks — including the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the OTARD rule — also apply to District associations regardless of the District framework.

1. D.C. Code § 42-1903.08, Unit owners' associations; powers and rights (see (a)(1), (a)(4), (a)(11), (a)(14A)), D.C. Law Library ↩
2. D.C. Law 22-307, Short-Term Rental Regulation Act of 2018, D.C. Law Library ↩
3. D.C. Code § 42-1902.27, Amendment of instruments (see (b) and (e)(5)), D.C. Law Library ↩
4. DLCP, Operating a Short-Term Rental in the District of Columbia (30-night per-stay limit; market size) ↩
5. D.C. Code § 30-201.02, Restrictions on short-term rentals (license endorsement; primary residence), D.C. Law Library ↩
6. D.C. Code § 30-201.06, Requirements for short-term rentals (90-night cap (e); transient lodging taxes (d)), D.C. Law Library ↩
7. OTR Tax Notice 2023-01, Sales and Use Tax Rate Increase on Transient Accommodations (14.95% to 15.95%, effective April 1, 2023), Office of Tax and Revenue ↩
8. D.C. Code § 42-1903.13, Lien for assessments against units; enforcement by sale, D.C. Law Library ↩
9. District of Columbia Court of Appeals (highest local court; no intermediate appellate court), DC Courts ↩
10. D.C. Code § 42-1901.01, Applicability of chapter (Condominium Act of 1976), D.C. Law Library ↩
11. D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 9, General Cooperative Associations, D.C. Law Library ↩
12. D.C. Code § 30-201.01, Definitions (primary residence; short-term rental; vacation rental), D.C. Law Library ↩
13. D.C. Code § 30-201.03, Short-term rental license application (proof that condominium, cooperative, or HOA permits operation), D.C. Law Library ↩
14. D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center / LawHelp.org, Legal Alert: Licensing your D.C. Short-Term Rental (June 9, 2022 enforcement date) ↩
15. Executive Office of the Mayor, Mayor Bowser Announces New Short-Term Rental Legislation (Short-Term Rental Regulation Amendment Act of 2026) ↩
16. Council of the District of Columbia, LIMS, B26-0647 (status) ↩
17. Executive Office of the Mayor, short-term rental legislation bill text (PDF) ↩
18. Council of the District of Columbia, LIMS, B26-0757, Illegal Occupancy Enforcement Amendment Act of 2026 (status) ↩
19. D.C. Code § 30-201.07, Effect on tenancy (transient guest is not a tenant), D.C. Law Library ↩