Every rule that actually applies inside city limits — and what changes the moment you cross out of them.
Last reviewed August 25, 2026
Sedona allows short-term rentals. Arizona law does not let the city ban them. What Sedona does instead is regulate them closely, and the city has tightened the rules twice since early 2025. Here is what actually applies inside city limits, with the code section for each rule so you can check it yourself.
| Requirement | What Sedona requires |
|---|---|
| Permit | One per unit, before advertising or renting · SCC 5.25.030 |
| Cost | $210 per unit per year, non-refundable · fee schedule eff. Jan 1, 2026 |
| Late renewal | $50 if 2–90 days late; $100 if 91+ days; capped at $100 |
| Decision time | 7 business days by statute; city says 2–3 typical |
| Tax license | Arizona TPT license required before you apply |
| Insurance | $500,000 aggregate liability · SCC 5.25.090 |
| Emergency contact | 60-minute response to police; 24 hours for complaints · SCC 5.25.040 |
| Neighbor notice | Certified mail or hand delivery, before first rental · SCC 5.25.060 |
| Background checks | On the booking guest, 24h before check-in, kept 12 months · SCC 5.25.100 |
| Total tax | 13.90% Coconino side · 13.325% Yavapai side |
Sources: Sedona City Code Ch. 5.25, the City of Sedona Consolidated Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026, and the Arizona Department of Revenue TPT rate table effective September 1, 2026. This is general information for property owners, not legal or tax advice.
Sedona treats a violation as both a misdemeanor and a civil offense with a $500 minimum, and the ladder climbs on verified violations at the same property within a rolling twelve months.
| Situation | Exposure |
|---|---|
| First verified violation | Up to $500, or one night’s advertised rent, whichever is greater |
| Second within 12 months | Up to $1,000, or two nights’ rent |
| Third and beyond | Up to $3,500, or three nights’ rent |
| Operating without a permit | Up to $1,000 per month after 30 days’ notice |
| No working emergency contact | Up to $1,000 per 30-day period after notice |
| Suspension | Up to 12 months for three verified violations in 12 months — or one, for a felony at the property, serious injury or death, housing a sex offender, or an unpermitted event |
One point worth sitting with: the single-incident suspension grounds include unpermitted special events. A wedding in the backyard is not a fine, it is a permit risk. Sedona also runs a 24/7 short-term rental hotline at 928-203-5110, so complaints reach the city directly and get logged.
Two smaller rules catch people out. Your permit number has to appear in every advertisement and listing (SCC 5.25.070). And since Ordinance 2025-02 took effect on March 25, 2025, a laminated notice in 14-point bold type or larger has to hang within ten feet of the primary entrance, showing fire and life-safety equipment locations, the city’s noise and waste rules, the prohibited-uses notice, your emergency contact’s name and 24-hour phone, and your permit number.
This is the single most common mistake we see. The Village of Oak Creek, Oak Creek Canyon and the other unincorporated pockets around Sedona are not inside the city, so Sedona City Code Chapter 5.25 does not reach them. What applies instead depends on the county.
Unincorporated Yavapai County, which includes the Village of Oak Creek, is governed by county rules rather than Sedona’s. Unincorporated Coconino County, which includes Oak Creek Canyon, has had its own short-term rental permit program since 2023. In both cases you still register the rental with that county’s assessor under A.R.S. 33-1902, and you still need an Arizona TPT license. Because county programs change and the two counties do not work the same way, we confirm the current requirement with the county directly before a client lists a property — and we would rather do that than have you rely on a page written last year.
The Village of Oak Creek also carries a piece of short-term-rental case law worth knowing about. The Village of Oakcreek Association amended its covenants to ban rentals under 30 days and sued an owner to enforce it. The owner won in Yavapai County Superior Court, the Court of Appeals affirmed, and the Arizona Supreme Court declined review in April 2024. If you are buying in a community whose short-term rental ban was added by amendment rather than written into the original declaration, that history matters — and it is a question for your attorney, not for us.
If you would rather not track permit renewals, neighbor attestations, background checks and TPT filings yourself, that is exactly what our short-term rental management covers. Ask us what your property would rent for and what compliance would look like for your street.