Many people are choosing to invest in short term rental properties and list them on apps like Airbnb or Vrbo. There can be great returns but the management can be intense. I can help you find a property that will work well, but here are some of the facts that vary by community.
Short-Term Home Rental Fact Sheet
Updated July 8, 2021
STATE OF WISCONSIN
A Wisconsin state law enacted in 2017 prohibits units of local government from enforcing or adopting ordinances that ban home rentals of 7 consecutive days or longer.
However, counties, municipalities, and towns may still ban home rentals of less than 7 consecutive days.
The state right-to-rent law only applies to units of local government (counties, cities, villages, and towns), and does not apply to homeowner associations or condominium associations.
Units of local government may impose regulations on short-term home rentals of 7 days or longer, including registration requirements, fees, inspections, and nuisance regulations.
Also, with regard to short-term home rentals, a local government can limit the total number of days that a home may be rented out within a 365-day period to 180 days.
A local government that exercises this option is not allowed to specify which 180 days, but may require the 180 days to be consecutive, in which case the homeowner can choose their preferred 180- day timeframe.
WALWORTH COUNTY
The Walworth County short-term home rental license ordinance is applicable in all townships within the County, but not in cities or villages, which may have their own separate ordinances.
The County ordinance requires homeowners who rent out their homes for periods of at least 7 consecutive days but less than 29 consecutive days (except for full-month rentals in February) to obtain an annual County license, in addition to the state license.
However, if a homeowner only enters into one short-term rental per calendar year, and the rental period is between 7 and 10 days, then no County license is required.
With regard to home rentals of at least 7 consecutive days but less than 29 consecutive days that do not fall under this exception, homeowners are required to pay an annual County license fee of $500 for the first year, and $200 for annual renewals thereafter, in addition to the state license fee and any town fees.
The term of the annual County license is from July 1st through June 30th, except that licenses granted in April, May, or June are valid through June 30th of the following year.
The County ordinance requires a minimum of two off-street parking spaces.
Parking may be provided off-site, but the ordinance prohibits on-street parking by renters.
Links to the full text of the County ordinance and also the County license application form are available on the Walworth County short-term home rental webpage, at www.co.walworth.wi.us/537/Short-Term-Rentals.
As of June 18th, 2021, there are 137 Walworth County short-term home rental licenses in effect, including 48 licenses for properties in the Town of Delavan and 47 licenses for properties in the Town of Geneva.
There are fewer than ten licenses in effect in each of the other townships.
Questions may be directed to Lindsay Motl, Deputy Director of the Walworth County Land Use Department, contact information available at www.co.walworth.wi.us/365/Land-Use-Resource- Management.
LAKE GENEVA
In 2018, the Lake Geneva City Council adopted a licensing ordinance regarding home rentals of at least 7 consecutive days but less than 29 consecutive days.
Also in 2018, the City Council enacted a $2,000 annual City fee for a required “short-term rental” City license, in addition to the required State of Wisconsin “tourist rooming house” license for which homeowners must pay a $300 one-time pre-inspection fee and $110 annual license fee.
Based on available information, the $2,000 annual home rental license fee charged by the City of Lake Geneva was more than double what appeared to be the next-highest such local fee which is charged by the Village of Williams Bay, and approximately four times higher than the highest known fee amounts charged by other municipalities in Wisconsin.
In January 2019, the Lake Geneva City Council adopted a revised version of the ordinance that included a section titled “Access and Inspections,” which authorized City employees to enter people’s homes without a warrant when City employees claimed it was “reasonable,” imposed a new requirement for metal ‘Knox Boxes’ to be bolted to the exteriors of people’s houses, and required homeowners to place their house keys inside the ‘Knox Boxes’ so that City employees could have 24/7 access to the house keys.
The first two sentences of the ordinance section titled “Access and Inspections,” which included the ‘Knox Box’ requirement for homeowners to turn over their house keys, stated:
The City shall be authorized at all reasonable times upon reasonable notice to the owner to enter and examine any building, structure, or premises, for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this ordinance. The owner, agent or occupant of any such premises who refuses to permit, or prevents or interferes with any entry into or upon the premises by any such inspector shall be in violation of this section.
The ordinance did not prohibit non-firefighter City employees from using the house keys contained in the ‘Knox Boxes,’ nor did it prohibit City employees from using the house keys to enter people’s homes in non-emergency situations, nor did it provide a definition of what constituted “reasonable notice” to homeowners before City employees entered people’s houses.
The ‘Knox Box’ requirement did not just affect people who rent for periods of less than 29 days. Under the ordinance, the City limits shorter-term home rentals to a maximum of 180 days within a 365-day period, and a home can only be rented for periods of less than 29 days during the 180-day
timeframe that the homeowner specifies on their license application, which meant that a majority of the time, the ‘Knox Box’ requirement did not affect shorter-term renters but rather the homeowners themselves and/or longer-term renters.
In addition to concerns about unreasonable searches of people’s homes, there were also concerns about the City requiring metal boxes to be bolted onto houses, which causes physical damage to doors, doorways, siding, and/or masonry.
To address the aforementioned concerns, in June 2020 the Lake Geneva City Council adopted an ordinance amendment making ‘Knox Boxes’ optional rather than mandatory at private homes, and also reduced the annual home rental license fee from $2,000 to $750.
In July 2021, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a legal challenge to this $750 annual license fee, which may be the highest in the state outside of Williams Bay, but it is unclear when this case will be decided by the State of Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission.
More information is available from the Lake Geneva Regional News, at www.lakegenevanews.net/news/local/law-firm-files-challenge-against-lake-genevas-750-short-term- rental-license-fee/article_8088b560-c094-5681-8e2c-078087a64c3e.html.
In addition to this $750 short-term rental license fee, homeowners in the City of Lake Geneva who rent out their homes for periods of at least 7 days but less than 29 days are required to pay a $25 City business license fee, and also a $10 City room tax permit fee.
The City short-term home rental ordinance requires a minimum of two off-street parking spaces on the property of each home, plus an additional on-site parking space for each additional bedroom over two.
Renters are prohibited from engaging in outdoor activities between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Under the ordinance, property owners are required to maintain a “business record” that must be made available to City staff upon request, including the names and addresses of renters, as well as the dates of their respective rental periods and the dollar amounts paid for rent.
The ordinance requires homeowners to retain such records for at least one year.
The full text of the Lake Geneva short-term home rental ordinance is available on the City website, at www.cityoflakegeneva.com/vertical/sites/%7B14619068-6F01-4703-8EEB- EA74850C93B5%7D/uploads/Short_Term_Rental_Application_Revised_082620.pdf (pages 5-8).
FONTANA
The Fontana Village Board has adopted a “tourist rooming house” ordinance regarding short-term home rentals of 7 consecutive days or longer.
“Vacation rental homes” that are rented for periods of less than 7 consecutive days are allowed only in certain zoning districts, and are covered under a separate Village ordinance.
A homeowner in the Village who wishes to rent out their home short-term for periods of 7 consecutive days or longer is required to pay a $250 license administrative fee, plus a $75 occupancy inspection fee, a $50 fire inspection fee, and a $20 room tax permit fee, for a total of $395 in annual Village fees.
The Village “tourist rooming house” license is valid for one calendar year.
Under the ordinance, a home can only be rented for short-term periods of at least 7 consecutive days during a 180-day timeframe within a given calendar year, and the 180-day timeframe must be specified by the property owner on their license application.
The maximum number of occupants allowed under the Village ordinance is the number allowed under the homeowner’s state tourist rooming house license, or two per bedroom plus two occupants, whichever is less.
The Village ordinance requires a minimum of two off-street paved parking spaces on the property of each home, plus an additional on-site paved parking space for each additional bedroom over two.
Under the ordinance, property owners are required to maintain a “business record” that must be made available to Village staff upon request, including the names and addresses of renters, as well as the dates of their respective rental periods and the dollar amounts paid for rent.
The ordinance requires property owners to retain such records for at least one year.
More information is available at https://villageoffontana.com/wp-content/uploads/PROCESS-Short- Term-Rental-Program-19-04-24.pdf.
Additional information including the license application form is available at https://villageoffontana.com/applications/ (click on “Short Term Rentals”).
The full text of the Fontana “tourist rooming house” ordinance is available at https://villageoffontana.com/wp-content/uploads/ORD-Tourist-Rooming-House-Sec-18-64x.pdf.
WILLIAMS BAY
The Williams Bay Village Board has adopted a licensing ordinance to regulate home rentals of at least 7 consecutive days but less than 29 consecutive days.
With the exception of full-month rentals in February which are exempt, homeowners renting for periods of at least 7 days but fewer than 29 days are required to pay an annual $950 license fee and also a $25 room tax permit fee to the Village.
Under the ordinance, the term of the Village license matches the term of the state license, from July 1st through June 30th.
With regard to new licenses granted in April, May, or June, both state and Village licenses are valid through June 30th of the following year.
The Village ordinance requires a minimum of two off-street parking spaces.
Parking may be provided off-site, but the ordinance prohibits on-street parking by renters.
Under the ordinance, property owners are required to keep a “guest registry” that must be made available to Village staff upon request, including the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of renters, as well as the number of occupants and their respective dates of stay.
The ordinance requires homeowners to retain such records for at least one year.
The full text of the ordinance is available at www.williamsbay.org/images/amendments/2018- 8%20Amendment.pdf (pages 5-8).
The license application form and additional information are available at www.williamsbay.org/#rental.
Questions may be directed to the Village Clerk, telephone (262) 245-2700, or email clerk@williamsbay.org.
VILLAGE OF WALWORTH
The Walworth Village Board has adopted a “tourist rooming house” ordinance that requires homeowners who rent for periods of at least 7 consecutive days but less than 30 consecutive days to obtain a home rental license from the Village.
The Village Board also enacted a related home rental license fee of $200 per calendar year, plus an annual $50 fire inspection fee, plus an annual room tax permit fee of $20.
Under the ordinance, a home can only be rented for periods of less than 30 days during a 180-day timeframe within a given calendar year, and the 180-day timeframe must be specified by the property owner in their license application.
The maximum number of occupants allowed under the Village ordinance is the number allowed under the homeowner’s state tourist rooming house license, or two per bedroom plus two occupants, whichever is less.
The ordinance requires a minimum of two off-street parking spaces on the property of each home, plus an additional on-site parking space for each additional bedroom over two.
Under the ordinance, property owners are required to maintain a “business record” that must be made available to Village staff upon request, including the names and addresses of renters, as well as the dates of their respective rental periods and the dollar amounts paid for rent.
The ordinance requires property owners to retain such records for at least one year.
The full text of the ordinance as well as the license application form are available on the Village website, at https://villageofwalworth.govoffice2.com/index.asp?SEC=47F0E263-DA04-4896-9E92- 67F2B5FE6928&DE=024C21D7-0154-416B-8124-733C0BE85EE8&Type=B_BASIC.
Questions may be directed to the Clerk Treasurer’s office, contact information available at https://villageofwalworth.govoffice2.com/index.asp?SEC=84F4D6D5-376D-4B45-A05D- 589A982A4F9B.
TOWN OF DELAVAN
Following enactment of the state right-to-rent law, the Delavan Town Board adopted a short-term home rental license ordinance that applies to home rentals of less than 29 consecutive days.
Walworth County subsequently adopted the County short-term home rental ordinance that is applicable in all townships within the County.
As a result, both the County ordinance and also the Town ordinance are applicable in the Town of Delavan.
Therefore, in addition to state and County fees, homeowners must also pay the $100 annual Town permit fee, plus a $25 Town business registration fee, and a $10 Town room tax permit fee.
The short-term home rental license application form and related Town ordinance are available at https://townofdelavan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Short-Term-Licensing-Application.pdf.
More information is available at www.townofdelavan.com/forms-permits (click on “Short Term Rentals / Room Tax”).
Questions may be directed to the Town Clerk, telephone (262) 728-3471, or email clerk@townofdelavan.com.
TWIN LAKES
In April 2021, the Twin Lakes Village Board adopted a short-term rental ordinance that applies to home rentals of less than 29 days, available on the Village website at www.villageoftwinlakes.net/wp- content/uploads/2021/06/2021-04-02-Ordinance-Creating-Short-Term-Rentals.pdf.
The related Village Board meeting minutes are available at www.villageoftwinlakes.net/wp- content/uploads/2021/05/04.19.2021-RBM_FINAL.pdf (page 2).
Under the ordinance, no person may operate a short-term rental home more than 10 nights per year without a short-term rental license.
As indicated in the ordinance, the Village charges a short-term rental license application fee of $150. Short-term home rental licenses are issued for a one-year period, and must be renewed annually.
An annual general building inspection is required prior to issuance or renewal of a short-term home rental license.
There is a re-inspection fee of $65, but as noted in the Village Board meeting minutes, this fee is only applicable if the Building and Zoning Department or Fire Department have to re-inspect the residence multiple times prior to approval.
Questions may be directed to the Village Clerk, contact information available at www.villageoftwinlakes.net/contact/.
