Can you rent out a Scottsdale home as a short-term rental?

Yes, as long as you have the licenses the city and state require and the home's HOA doesn't prohibit it. Arizona law says a city may not prohibit vacation rentals or short-term rentals, and the City of Scottsdale requires an annual city license for each property rented for less than 30 days.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. The City of Scottsdale can tell you what applies to a specific address, the Arizona Department of Revenue can answer tax questions, and a licensed Arizona attorney can tell you how an HOA's documents apply to you. I read the sources below on November 5, 2026, and rules like these get amended, so check the current page before you rely on any of it.

A.R.S. 9-500.39 says a city or town may not prohibit vacation rentals or short-term rentals, and it lists what a city can require instead. A city can ask for a license or permit, require the owner to give emergency contact information for a person who can respond to complaints at any time, require notice to the neighbors, and require at least $500,000 in liability coverage or bookings through an online platform that provides at least that much. The statute also says the license fee can be no more than the cost of issuing it or $250, whichever is less.

The City of Scottsdale's own page says the same from the other direction: short-term and vacation rentals are allowed in Scottsdale under state law, and a rental offered for less than 30 days needs a Scottsdale license. The statute defines a transient stay as less than thirty consecutive days (A.R.S. 42-5070), so 30 days is the line both the city and the state use.

Yes, and the city calls it a license. According to the City of Scottsdale's Information for Owners and Operators page, you need an annual city license for each Scottsdale property you rent for less than 30 days, and the page lists the annual fee as $250 per property. The page was last updated July 31, 2026. A rental also needs liability coverage of at least $500,000, on your own policy or through the booking platform, which matches the statute.

The page also says you have to notify nearby properties after you receive your license, and the notice includes the rental's address, your license number and a telephone number for a 24-hour emergency contact. The statute describes the same kind of notice to the neighbors next door and across the street, along with the emergency contact. I'm not stating the timing for the notice, because the sources I read don't word it the same way, so read the city's page for it. The city's page also says a Short-Term Rental Notice with safety information has to be posted near the front and back doors.

Yes. The City of Scottsdale's page says each rental property needs a valid transaction privilege tax (TPT) license, and that the state license has to list Scottsdale as a region code. The Arizona Department of Revenue's residential rental page says businesses that book stays of fewer than 30 days still have to collect and remit TPT, even though longer leases no longer need a residential rental TPT license. A.R.S. 42-5042 says an operator may not offer lodging for rent without a current TPT license, and it includes owners of short-term rentals that aren't booked through an online platform.

The same statute says the TPT license number has to appear in every advertisement for the rental, including a listing on a booking platform. If you book through a platform, ask the Department of Revenue how the tax the platform collects fits with your own license, because the statute treats platform bookings differently in some cases. I'm not quoting a tax rate, since the Department and the city publish the current ones.

The City of Scottsdale's page says it's illegal to rent a property before it's registered with the Maricopa County Assessor, under A.R.S. 33-1902. The short-term rental statute, 9-500.39, also says owners still have to meet the county assessor reporting requirements that apply to residential rental property.

A.R.S. 33-1902 says the assessor registration asks for the owner's name and contact information, the property's address and parcel number and the year the building was built, and that an owner who lives outside Arizona has to name an in-state agent. The statute doesn't say in its own words whether a short-term rental counts as residential rental property, so ask the Assessor's office how it applies to your plan.

Yes, the HOA's recorded rules can still limit rentals even when the city allows them. A.R.S. 33-1806.01 says an owner in a planned community may rent the home unless the declaration prohibits it, and that the owner has to follow the declaration's limits on the rental time period. A.R.S. 33-1260.01 says the same thing for a condominium. The City of Scottsdale's page also says state law doesn't stop homeowners associations from regulating or restricting these uses.

Ask for the HOA's covenants, conditions and restrictions before you write an offer, and look for a minimum lease term, a ban on rentals under 30 days, or a cap on how many homes can be rented. If the document is unclear, or a restriction was added after the original was recorded, a licensed Arizona attorney should read it. Here's my post on which HOA law applies to you in Arizona.

A.R.S. 9-500.39 lets a city suspend a short-term rental's license for up to 12 months after repeated verified violations or a serious one, and it sets civil penalties that go up with each violation within a year. The Scottsdale REALTORS® website, reporting on the 2022 bill that gave cities the authority to issue permits, says cities can suspend permits for up to a year as well. A city can also fine an owner who hasn't given the required emergency contact information.

Because a license can be suspended, I'd read the city's current page before you buy and, if the home is already being rented, ask the city about the license's current status.

Start with the HOA documents, since they can rule out the plan before anything else matters. Then confirm which city the home is in, because the city decides which rules apply. I go through that in my Kierland investment property post.

If the seller is renting it now, ask for the city license, the TPT license and the Maricopa County registration. Ask your lender and your insurance agent too whether they treat a short-term rental differently from a second home. Here's my post on buying a second home in Scottsdale, and here's what to know about buying an investment property in Scottsdale. If you're looking at a specific home, get in touch or call me at (480) 203-6605 and I'll go through the HOA documents with you.