ST. LOUIS—The City of St. Louis will now require a permit to operate a short-term rental unit within city limits.

Starting on Nov. 6, short-term rental owners and short-term rental platforms must apply for a permit, and have until May 6, 2025, to do so.

“We heard our community members loud and clear, and now St. Louis is following national best practices in regulating this industry,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones in a press release. “As a city, we can both encourage tourism and ensure that these rental units are not a nuisance in their neighborhoods.”

Ordinance 71729 requires properties to meet certain standards at the risk of having their permit revoked for non-compliance. This ordinance also places restrictions on how many properties can operate in multi-family structures, as well as how many units can be operated by a single owner.

St. Louis officials have contracted with Host Compliance through Granicus to establish real-time issue monitoring. Through this system, the City will scan rental listing sites and use human analysts to identify short term rental (STR) properties, allowing the City to know where STRs are operating and if they have a permit.

The city will also have an STR-specific hotline, both online and by phone at (314-798-9245), where residents can report short-term rental-related issues.

This is part of the City’s effort to keep residents safe, as the SLMPD has documented numerous incidents at short-term rentals, including shootings and homicides.

Legislation enacting the ordinance was signed into law on Nov. 6, 2023, and the Building Division was given one year to work with the Board of Public Service to promulgate rules on the ordinance.