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The law limits new investor permits. It does not remove the rentals.

Metro Codes’ legislative history (opens in a new tab) , updated October 8, 2026, says ordinance BL2024-478 has been the current short-term rental law since November 12, 2024. BL2020-187, effective July 10, 2020, is the preceding ordinance. Both are part of the framework now codified at Metro Code §6.28.030. Neither one bans short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods.

This is a neighbor’s reading of those public sources, not legal advice. Confirm a specific address with Metro Codes before you rely on it.

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Two kinds of permits

A short-term rental property is a dwelling of not more than four sleeping rooms, advertised through an online marketplace for transient guests. No one may operate or advertise one without a permit from Metro Codes first. The ad must show the permit number, or a legible image of the permit. Stays are capped at 30 consecutive days, and the owner may not take payment for occupancy under 24 hours. One party of guests at a time.

Not owner-occupied

New not-owner-occupied permits are a use permitted with conditions only in these districts, as Metro’s permit-types page (opens in a new tab) and §6.28.030.B state it:

  • MUN and MUN-A
  • MUL and MUL-A
  • MUG and MUG-A
  • MUI and MUI-A
  • OG
  • OR20 through OR40-A
  • ORI and ORI-A
  • CN and CN-A
  • CL and CL-A
  • CS and CS-A
  • CA
  • CF
  • DTC North, DTC South, DTC-West, and DTC Central
  • SCN, SCC, and SCR

New not-owner-occupied permits are not permitted in AR2A, R, RS, or RM. Existing permit holders in those districts may be eligible to renew. Those permits are not transferable if the property is sold or transferred. On an ownership change, the permit is no longer valid, and the new owner has to apply under the rules in effect at that time. Specific Plan (SP) and Planned Unit Development (PUD) properties get a permit only if that plan allows it.

Owner-occupied

Owner-occupied permits are still issued. The code allows them as an accessory use in zoning districts that allow residential use, except NS, again only if the SP or PUD allows it where those apply. The owner must be a natural person whose primary residence is the property. Corporations, LLCs, trusts, partnerships, and similar entities cannot hold an owner-occupied permit. The application requires four current proof-of-residence documents, two from Metro’s Group A list and two from Group B. The zoning administrator may deny an application when the record, including neighbor affidavits, shows the property is not the owner’s primary residence.

Outside a few stated exceptions (a permitted detached accessory dwelling, a permitted accessory apartment, or a two-family unit under the common-ownership rule), an owner-occupied ad may not offer the entire home. That advertising limit is not a ban. The permit still authorizes transient guests in a residential zone. We are demanding that this permit type end in non-commercially zoned residential areas too.

Restricted on paper, still operating in practice

The not-owner-occupied restriction is real, and it is not a clearance of residential streets. Metro still renews not-owner-occupied permits already issued in AR2A, R, RS, and RM. Metro still issues owner-occupied permits in residential zones. A sale ends the old permit, and a new owner-occupied application can put a permit back on a residential lot. Unpermitted listings are a separate violation, which is why the hubNashville file matters. Neighbors are still living with the guest traffic. That gap is why a total ban, not another renewal cycle, is the demand.

Grandfathering, and what a sale does

Two different rules get called “grandfathering.” Do not collapse them.

  • Metro’s own rule: an existing not-owner-occupied permit in AR2A, R, RS, or RM may be renewed, and it cannot be transferred. A change of ownership cancels it. Metro’s operation-rules page gives the example of a transfer between a person and a trust or LLC.
  • Tennessee’s Short-Term Rental Unit Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-7-603, limits how a later local prohibition applies to property that was already being used as a short-term rental by the owner. The prior local rule keeps governing that use until the property is sold, transferred, ceases the use for 30 continuous months, or hits the three-violation threshold in § 13-7-604. “Used as a short-term rental unit” is a defined term. It is not automatic for every listing. The University of Tennessee MTAS summary (opens in a new tab) and Metro’s legislative history page, which links the code sections, are the references.

State law is a limit on a future ban. It is not a reason to leave enforcement of the current ordinance sitting. Non-transfer, renewal rules, and the violation file are tools that exist now.

Three violations, then a possible revocation

Under §6.28.030, when a complaint is filed, Codes notifies the permit holder and must tell the complainant that a false complaint is punishable as perjury under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-702. The same warning is required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-7-604(c) and is printed on Metro’s complaint page (opens in a new tab) .

The zoning administrator may revoke the permit, once appeal rights are finished, if they determine from reliable information that three violations of generally applicable Metro Code provisions occurred as a direct result of operating the unit. Codes must give 15 days’ written notice before revoking. Denial or revocation can be appealed to the Short Term Rental Appeals Board (opens in a new tab) . After revocation, no new permit is issued to that applicant for the same property for one year. The state statute uses the same three-violation threshold before a city may end a legacy use, and it puts the burden of proof on the city.

“May” is the word in the ordinance. A complaint is not itself a violation. Noise, trash, and other generally applicable rules can count when Codes determines the violation came from operating the rental. Documented complaints to Codes, police, or public works during the permit year also remove the 30-day renewal grace period. File each incident. Keep the case number.

Operating without a permit is a separate offense. The code sets a $50 fine per day, imposed by a court, and waiting periods before a property can get a permit: one year after the zoning administrator finds operation with no permit ever issued, six months after a failure to renew, and three years after a court finding. That is the enforcement stick the ordinance actually wrote. It is not enough. We want the residential use prohibited, and we want the violations that already qualify pursued.

Where to read it

Metro’s own FAQ, last updated March 11, 2026, still says BL2020-187 is the current law. That sentence is stale. Use the legislative history page and the codified text. One ordinance on the history list, BL2025-1007, is not summarized here because this page does not rely on a reading of its operative amendments.

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