New Utah state law prohibits municipalities from enacting ordinances that ban individuals from listing short-term rentals on digital platforms, according to Utah Code Section 1s0-8-85.4.
The legislation, which becomes effective November 6, 2025, prevents local legislative bodies from using ordinances to prohibit the act of renting a short-term rental or punishing individuals solely for the act of listing a property on a short-term rental website.
While cities cannot ban the listings themselves, the law allows municipalities to require owners or lessees to obtain a business license or other permit before operating a short-term rental within city limits.
Under the new code, a municipality may request that a short-term rental website remove a specific listing if the rental is operating in violation of local zoning or business licensing requirements. To do this, the city must provide notice to the website including the URL of the listing and the specific reason for the requested removal.
The law also addresses tax enforcement. If a municipality imposes a transient room tax, it may provide evidence of short-term rental listings to the county auditor to demonstrate that an owner or lessee may be subject to the tax.
Additionally, the code states that while cities cannot prohibit listings, they may use the existence of a listing on a website as evidence that a short-term rental occurred, provided the municipality has additional information to support a claim that an ordinance was violated.
