Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026 | 5:45 p.m.
Airbnb and other short-term rental booking platforms could be on the hook for allowing unlicensed operators to advertise listings on their platforms in unincorporated areas of Clark County.
The Clark County Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve a new ordinance holding short-term rental platforms responsible for unlicensed properties listed on their sites. Commissioners Michael Naft and Jim Gibson were absent.
County officials say the ordinance “will help to address nuisance concerns from residents stemming from unlicensed short-term rentals while providing a clear pathway for those licensed to be booked by customers.”
The new rule states:
“The amount of the civil penalty shall be assessed for each day the violation continues in accordance with the following schedule:
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“For the first violation — $500
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“For each subsequent violation — $1,000
“Each violation of this chapter shall be subject to a separate penalty.”
The ordinance cites short-term rentals as constricting “the availability of affordable housing” and diverting hotel tax revenue away from taxing authorities, stating: “The increasing number of short-term rental units in Clark County has diverted a noticeable portion of transient lodging away from traditional transient lodging establishments and has negatively impacted the revenue derived from such rentals to local governments and other agencies and beneficiaries of transient lodging taxes.”
Vince Queano, director of the county’s business license department, said the ordinance is designed to accomplish three goals: cleaning up existing regulations for clarity; addressing concerns raised by federal courts; and clarifying that out-of-compliance listings don’t need to be removed from a booking site entirely — just made unbookable.
He added that the ordinance also requires platforms to confirm a short-term rental owner has a county business license before processing a booking.
After a similar law took effect in New York City, Queano said listings dropped dramatically — from about 22,246 to around 4,000, according to a one-year report by Lodgify, a short-term rental software platform.
He stressed the county’s goal is to make business license verification as simple as possible, and that staff are already working with some platforms on compliance timelines.
“This type of regulation has been reviewed by other courts in other states and found to comply with federal law,” Queano said. “We’re hopeful that this regulation will protect licensed STRs from unfair competition posed by unlicensed STRs, keep our neighborhoods protected from the proliferation of unlicensed STRs and ensure adequate supply of long-term housing for the residents of Clark County.”
Though listings across short-term rental platforms are down year-over-year, there still are 21,697 short-term rental properties listed in Southern Nevada, according to the most recent available data. They have an average occupancy rate of nearly 50% and an average daily rental cost of $271, according to AirDNA, a website that aggregates rental data. About 64% of the Southern Nevada properties are listed through Airbnb.
As ownership of short-term rentals and usage grew more prominent nationwide, the state sought ways to regulate the market.
Those efforts led to Assembly Bill 363 in the 2021 Nevada Legislature, which set general requirements for short-term rental owners and local jurisdictions, including buffer rules requiring rental properties to be located at least 2,500 feet from resorts. AB 363 also capped licenses at 1% of the total housing stock in unincorporated areas, with fines up to $10,000 a day for operating without one. Clark County’s own 2022 ordinance set an additional buffer of 1,000 feet between licensed short-term rentals.
Clark County initiated a preapplication lottery and application process after passing the 2022 ordinance. Since then, the county has issued around 220 short-term rental licenses, with about 116 more still pending, according to the county business license database.
Frustrated short-term rental owners say the ordinance places unnecessary burdens on operators.
A group of owners at Tuesday’s commission meeting protested the new rules, accusing the commission of “protecting the resort hotel monopoly” and criticizing the licensing process.
Crystal Abbott became unemployed last year, making it difficult to provide for a family while paying a mortgage. Listing part of the home on booking platforms helped offset costs, she said.
With the county’s short-term rental licensing applications closed for an undisclosed period, many owners have been left in limbo, and Abbott urged commissioners to refocus on reworking the licensing process.
Queano noted that staff will review the short-term rental licensing process at a later date.
“How can the county call this a fair system if licensing is deeply unattainable,” Abbott said. “Whether it’s parking or disturbances, please regulate actual issues; hold problem properties accountable — I want that, too, we want that too. We are not asking for no regulation, we’re asking for fair, workable regulation and a genuine path to compliance.”
Resident Andre Dixson, who said he is “pro-affordable housing,” applauded the county’s decision.
He stressed that the county should hold platforms like Airbnb accountable for allowing unlicensed bookings on their websites, saying the business is “not helpless to stop illegal listings and bookings” and that “platforms and hosts will continue to operate illegally until the cost of doing so is greater than the money they’re making.”
Dixson pushed for a larger department to oversee short-term rental enforcement and a program that would allow residents to report illegal rentals, to help curb unlicensed listings.
“Every house that becomes a short-term rental is a home denied to a Las Vegas resident or family. I am here to speak for the majority of Las Vegas valley residents who want affordable housing, who want community in our neighborhoods, neighbors in our neighborhoods, not tourists,” Dixson said. “We need restrictions on short-term rentals to promote and protect affordable housing, and we need swift enforcement when platforms and hosts try to skirt the law.”
