Clark County Ended the Short-Term Rental Lottery, and Applications Open in December

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Clark County Commission approved an ordinance that rewrites how short-term rental licenses are handed out. FOX5 reported the headline changes: no more lottery and a 45-day review timeframe. News 3 reported the rest: year-round rolling applications, fewer paperwork requirements, and one countywide cap in place of the old per-area limits. Neither outlet reported the vote count.

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rogan gave commissioners an update on the backlog. He said the county had 830 complete applications three years ago. Since then, 242 licenses have been approved, and 47 applications were still pending as of the meeting. That leaves 541 applications that were neither approved nor still in line. The reports do not say how many of those were denied, dropped or withdrawn.

The county's Oct. 20 draft of the ordinance gives more detail. Keep in mind that a draft can change before the final vote, so check the adopted version before you rely on any single line. Here is what the draft does:

First come, first reviewed. Complete applications are considered in the order the county receives them.
A 45-business-day clock. FOX5 reported 45 days. The draft says 45 business days, and the clock runs after the county finishes with the application ahead of yours. It also stops while the county waits on more information, during an inspection, and during zoning review.
A 14-day response window. If the county asks you for more information or asks you to schedule an inspection, you have 14 calendar days to respond. If you miss it, the county can deny the application.
Past violations are not an automatic no. The draft removes the rule that blocked homes with multiple unresolved code violations in the past 36 months.
48-hour notice for inspections. For owner-occupied homes, inspections are limited to the parts of the home guests will use.
Less paperwork. Applicants no longer list every rental site they plan to use, and licensees no longer file a monthly report on their bookings.

The county's notice to licensees says the same thing in plainer terms: the annual window, the per-area guarantee and the random ranking are out, and an ongoing review in order of receipt is in.

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Start with where you live, because that decides whether any of this applies to you. The county rules cover unincorporated areas, including places like Spring Valley, Enterprise and Paradise. If your home is inside the city limits of Las Vegas, Henderson or North Las Vegas, your city's rules apply instead.

Next, look at your HOA. State law and county code do not allow a license in a common-interest community unless the community's governing documents expressly allow short-term rentals. Silence is not permission. That one rule knocks out a lot of the valley, since so many of our neighborhoods have HOAs. The county's 2022 FAQ said it was told Summerlin would be excluded because its governing documents prohibit short-term rentals. If you are in a master plan like Mountains Edge or Southern Highlands, read your documents or ask your HOA before you spend a dollar.

Person using a phone app to control a smart lock on a front door, a common setup for short-term rental check-ins

Then look at the map. The draft moves the distance rules into the zoning code, but it keeps them. A rental cannot be within 1,000 feet of another short-term rental. It also cannot be within 2,500 feet of a resort hotel. Homes close to the Strip or a large casino resort should check this first. With first-come review, the 1,000-foot rule also means an earlier applicant on your block could shut you out.

Some homes are not eligible at all. That list includes mobile and manufactured homes, apartment buildings, income-restricted homes, and homes not connected to a municipal sewer system. So is anything in Mount Charleston, Moapa, Moapa Valley, Mesquite Township or Bunkerville Township.

If you live next door to a rental, the rules still have teeth. Guests are limited to two people per bedroom, up to 10 total. Stays must be at least two nights. Parties are banned. Pools, spas, barbecues and firepits are off limits from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Owners need noise monitors, a street-facing camera and a posted placard with a 24-hour complaint number. Someone must be able to respond within 30 minutes.

Owners should also know the costs. The draft lists a $45 application fee and a $150 inspection fee, plus an annual license fee. It requires $500,000 in liability insurance per occurrence and a state business license. The county's findings also say a short-term rental is a commercial use that makes the property ineligible for the primary residential property tax cap. That one can surprise people. Ask the Clark County Assessor how it would apply to your home before you apply.

Investors should read the fine print too. The county's FAQ says you must be the owner of record, and each applicant may hold a financial interest in only one license. If a home is held in an LLC or trust, the county asks who is behind it. So buying several homes and licensing each one is not how this system works. Condos have their own limit. A license cannot push a multifamily building past 10 percent of its units being rented short-term, and the building's owner can set a tighter limit.

Renters and first-time buyers have a stake in this as well. The county's own findings say that using homes for short stays cuts into the supply of affordable housing. That is the reason for a cap in the first place. A limit of 1 percent keeps most homes out of the short-term pool, no matter how fast the county reviews applications.

Background and History

For years, short-term rentals were banned in residential neighborhoods in unincorporated Clark County. That changed when Assembly Bill 363 was signed on June 4, 2021. The law told the county to drop its ban and create a licensing system. Commissioners passed that ordinance on June 21, 2022.

The first and only round came in 2023. KTNV reported that about 1,300 homeowners filed pre-applications, with licenses to be issued by lottery. At the time, officials estimated there were 10,000 short-term rentals in the county and said 2,800 licenses were available. FOX5 reports no new homeowners have been able to apply since then. In spring 2025, county officials said they were processing six applications a week.

Rows of old law books on dark wooden shelves, representing the federal court case over Clark County short-term rental licensing

Then came the lawsuit. The Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association, a coalition of property owners, sued the county. The group argued that slow processing, a short application window and a small number of permits added up to a ban. It also said the county stepped up enforcement against owners with pending applications, using fines and assessments that could become liens.

U.S. District Judge Miranda Du granted a preliminary injunction, finding the licensing system likely violates due process. According to Avalara's summary of the ruling, it blocked the county from requiring licenses, issuing or enforcing daily fines, declaring rentals a public nuisance, or recording liens while the case moves forward. The county voted on Jan. 6, 2026, to appeal.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals mostly sided with the owners. It did reverse one piece. The judges said the lower court went too far by letting anyone run an unlicensed rental, including people who never applied.

The county also went after the booking sites. On Aug. 18, 2026, commissioners approved an ordinance that stops platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo from taking guest payments for unlicensed rentals in the unincorporated county. Booking sites must also check licenses through an electronic system.

What Happens Next

The timeline from FOX5 is simple. The changes take effect two weeks after the vote. Applications open in December. Processing begins in January. We could not confirm the exact opening date or how to get in line, so watch the Clark County Department of Business License for the official details. In a first-come system, your place in line matters, and it will pay to know the date early.

Nobody has published the new cap as a hard number in the reports we reviewed. The ordinance says it equals 1 percent of housing units in the unincorporated county, rounded down, and that the county recalculates it every year. The old 2,800 figure came from the earlier per-area system, so do not assume it still applies.

The court case is the big unknown. Jackie Flores, president and founder of the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association, called the changes "superficial" and told News 3 the group will keep fighting in court. What the new ordinance means for the injunction is not settled. If the injunction changes, enforcement could change with it, so the current rules on fines could shift.

Also watch the fines themselves. The draft keeps a penalty of $1,000 to $10,000 per day for operating without a license. It sets the amount based on severity, good faith and past violations. The county says fined homeowners may still be eligible for a license and a path to legal status. Reports do not explain whether unpaid fines must be cleared first, so ask that question directly. The draft does require all fines, fees and costs from code violations to be paid when a license is renewed.

Licensing is also tied to how you get paid now. Under the August ordinance, booking sites cannot collect guest payments for unlicensed homes in the unincorporated county. Once you have a license, the draft says every ad must show your license number, your state business license number, your maximum occupancy, your minimum stay, and a note that parties are not allowed. Licenses must be renewed every year, and having one this year does not guarantee the next.

One more open question is for buyers. The sections we reviewed do not say whether a license can pass to a new owner when a home sells. Do not assume it can. If a seller tells you a home comes with a license, get the answer from the county in writing before you count on that income.

Ryan's Take

I think this is good news for regular homeowners who followed the rules and got stuck in a line that barely moved. A clear process beats a lottery every time. But I would not read this as a green light to go buy a house and run it on Airbnb. The cap means at most 1 out of every 100 homes in the unincorporated county can hold a license. Add the 1,000-foot rule, HOA limits, and a lawsuit still in play, and a license is far from a sure thing.

If you are buying, here is how I would look at it. Make sure the numbers work as a normal long-term rental or as your own home. Treat short-term income as a bonus you may never get. And do not trust a listing that says a home is "Airbnb ready" until you have checked the HOA documents, the map and the license status yourself. In my opinion, this will not move home prices much across the valley. It may matter a lot, though, for one owner on one street. If you are in Spring Valley or Enterprise and wondering where your home stands, I am happy to look at it with you.

Bright furnished living room with a gray sofa and fireplace, the kind of space a homeowner might offer as a short-term rental

What You Can Do

If you are thinking about applying, do your homework now, before the window opens. A short checklist:

Confirm your jurisdiction. Check whether your address is in unincorporated Clark County or inside a city.
Read your HOA documents. Look for language that expressly allows short-term or transient rentals.
Check the distances. Find out if a licensed rental sits within 1,000 feet or a resort hotel sits within 2,500 feet.
Gather your documents. The draft calls for a notarized owner signature, a recent sewer bill, a state business license and contact details for a local representative.
Price it out. Add up insurance, noise monitors, a camera, fees, room taxes and any change to your property taxes.
Plan to answer fast. A 14-day response window is short if you travel or work long shifts.

If you have been fined or have an open case, talk to an attorney before you apply. This article is general information, not legal advice. For questions about the process, the county's Department of Business License is at 702-455-4340, and the county lists STRComment@clarkcountynv.gov for short-term rental questions.

If you live near a rental and have concerns, you can still weigh in. Your commissioners take public comment, and licensed rentals must post a 24-hour complaint number on the outside of the property.

Modern two-story home with wood siding and a person walking a dog in front of the driveway

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com