Mid-term rentals: how to rent your home for 30 days or more
A stay of 30 days takes your home out of most short-term rental rules. In New York, it also means your guest can only be removed through a court.
Written by Alex P.
Founder of WonderGuest
A mid-term rental is a furnished home rented for a month or more at a time. Hosts move to it when their city limits short-term rentals, because a stay that long falls outside most of those rules.
The switch trades one set of rules for another. Past a month, your guest can gain a tenant's rights, and Airbnb's protections cover less.
This is not legal advice. Each rule below links to its official text.
What is a mid-term rental?
Mid-term rental is a market term, not a legal one. Cities define the short-term rental. A stay that runs longer falls outside that definition, whether the listing calls it a mid-term, a medium-term or a 30-day rental.
The platforms each draw their own line. Airbnb calls any reservation of 28 or more consecutive nights a monthly stay. Corporate Housing by Owner takes rentals of 30 days or longer.
Stays run well past a month. Furnished Finder put its average stay at 107 days as of December 2025.
Why hosts switch to 30-day stays
Some cities keep short-term rentals to the home you live in. Others allow them in certain zones only. In both, a second home often can't get a permit.
A longer stay is not a short-term rental there, so the permit rule stops applying. How long is long enough depends on the exact wording. "Fewer than 30 days" lets a 30-day stay out. "30 days or less" doesn't.
Each number links to the official source where it was read on October 2, 2026.
| Place | State | Short-term rental status | No longer short-term at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona short-term rental rules | Arizona | Permit required | 30 days |
| California short-term rental rules | California | Allowed | 31 days. This is the state's own definition. A city ordinance can set a different line. |
| Riverside County short-term rental rules | California | Permit required | 30 days. The ordinance counts calendar days, and part of a day counts as a full day. |
| San Bernardino County short-term rental rules | California | Permit required | 31 days |
| Los Angeles short-term rental rules | California | Primary residence only | 31 days. The city's FAQ also says listings advertised for 30 nights or longer are exempt. |
| San Francisco short-term rental rules | California | Primary residence only | 30 days |
| South Lake Tahoe short-term rental rules | California | Restricted by zone | 30 days. This is the Vacation Home Rental line. A Hosted Rental permit covers stays of 30 days or less. |
| Colorado short-term rental rules | Colorado | Allowed | 30 days. This is the line for county licensing. |
| Grand County short-term rental rules | Colorado | Permit required | 30 days |
| Summit County short-term rental rules | Colorado | Permit required | 30 days |
| Denver short-term rental rules | Colorado | Primary residence only | 30 days. The city's licensing page describes short-term stays as 1 to 29 days. |
| Washington, DC short-term rental rules | District of Columbia | Primary residence only | 31 days |
| Glynn County short-term rental rules | Georgia | Permit required | 31 days. The county's short-term rental page says fewer than 30 days. |
| Atlanta short-term rental rules | Georgia | Permit required | 31 days |
| Hawaii County (Big Island) short-term rental rules | Hawaii | Restricted by zone | 180 days. This is the county's registration rule. Its zoning code defines a short-term vacation rental as 30 consecutive days or less. |
| Honolulu (Oahu) short-term rental rules | Hawaii | Restricted by zone | 30 days. The planning department enforces 30 days. Ordinances 22-7 and 25-52 say fewer than 90 consecutive days. |
| Kauai County short-term rental rules | Hawaii | Restricted by zone | 180 days. The county states this line for homes outside the Visitor Destination Area. |
| Maui County short-term rental rules | Hawaii | Restricted by zone | 180 days |
| Chicago short-term rental rules | Illinois | Permit required | 32 days |
| New Orleans short-term rental rules | Louisiana | Restricted by zone | 30 days |
| Massachusetts short-term rental rules | Massachusetts | Permit required | 32 days. This is the scope of the state registration and the room occupancy excise. |
| Las Vegas short-term rental rules | Nevada | Primary residence only | 31 days |
| New York short-term rental rules | New York | Permit required | 30 days |
| New York City short-term rental rules | New York | Primary residence only | 30 days. The check-in date counts as day zero, so a 30-night stay is not a short-term rental. |
| Charleston short-term rental rules | South Carolina | Primary residence only | 30 days |
| Tennessee short-term rental rules | Tennessee | Restricted by zone | 30 days |
| Austin short-term rental rules | Texas | Permit required | 30 days |
| Houston short-term rental rules | Texas | Permit required | 30 days |
| San Antonio short-term rental rules | Texas | Permit required | 30 days |
| Utah short-term rental rules | Utah | Allowed | 30 days |
| Virginia short-term rental rules | Virginia | Allowed | 30 days |
| Seattle short-term rental rules | Washington | Permit required | 30 days |
If your city isn't listed, look it up in our short-term rental laws by city and state.
Getting past the line doesn't make the rental legal by itself. Denver asks for a residential rental property license once you rent for 30 days or more. Your HOA or your own lease may have a minimum stay too.
State law can also work in your favor. In Virginia, no locality may ban renting a home under a lease of 30 consecutive days or longer.
Mid-term rental platforms and what they charge hosts
Three platforms publish what a host pays. These figures come from their own pricing pages, read on October 2, 2026.
| Platform | What the host pays | How booking works |
|---|---|---|
| Furnished Finder | $199 a year per property. $149 for each added unit at the same address | No booking commission. You collect the rent yourself |
| Airbnb | A host service fee on every booking. Most hosts on the single-fee structure pay 15.5% | Reservations of 28 nights or more are paid monthly |
| Corporate Housing by Owner | $399, $499 or $995 a year for one listing | The annual package is the only fee |
Airbnb publishes no lower host fee for monthly stays. It is also moving every home host to the single-fee structure, where the whole fee comes out of your payout.
Take $3,000 of monthly rent. Airbnb's 15.5% comes to $465 every month, while a Furnished Finder listing costs $199 for the whole year. The Airbnb host fee calculator runs that fee on your own rate.
The price difference buys something. Airbnb collects the rent and applies its long-term cancellation policy. Under the Firm version, a guest who cancels less than 30 days before check-in still owes you the nights spent plus 30 more.
On Furnished Finder, the lease and the rent collection are yours to handle. So is screening the tenant.
The lease, and when a guest becomes a tenant
Airbnb says it plainly in its help center: "In some jurisdictions, guests may establish rights as a tenant after a month."
A tenant can't be asked to leave the way a guest can. If the stay goes wrong, you go to court. State law decides when that starts, and the four largest markets don't agree.
New York
New York counts the days. Under RPAPL § 768, it is unlawful to evict an occupant who has lawfully occupied a dwelling unit for thirty consecutive days or longer. The same protection applies from day one to anyone who has a lease.
California
California's landlord-tenant chapter covers "all persons who hire dwelling units," lodgers and boarders included (Civil Code § 1940). The exception is transient occupancy that is subject to local occupancy tax.
That tax stops once the occupancy runs more than 30 days, under Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280. Past that point, the exception no longer protects you.
A second threshold sits further out. After 12 months of continuous occupancy, Civil Code § 1946.2 requires just cause to end the tenancy.
Florida
Florida sets no day count. Its landlord-tenant act leaves out transient occupancy, and § 83.43 defines that as occupancy both parties intend to be temporary.
The lodging statute adds one test. Occupancy in a vacation rental is transient unless a written agreement states that the unit is the guest's sole residence (§ 509.013). What you put in writing matters more than the calendar.
Texas
Texas has no day count either. Property Code chapter 92 defines a dwelling as rooms rented for use as a permanent residence under a lease. A tenant is a person a lease authorizes to occupy it to the exclusion of others.
In all four states, sign a written lease with a start date and an end date. Read your own state's statute before the first monthly booking, or ask a local attorney.
Occupancy tax on a stay of 30 nights or more
Lodging tax is built for short stays. Most states stop charging theirs once a stay is long enough, and long enough is not always a month.
This table shows the night at which each state tax stops, as the state's own revenue office publishes it.
| State | State tax | No longer owed from | Rates and filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Arizona transaction privilege tax, transient lodging classification | 30 nights | Arizona transient lodging tax |
| Colorado | Colorado state sales tax | 30 nights | Colorado lodging tax |
| Georgia | Georgia state sales and use tax | 90 nights | Georgia hotel-motel tax |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts room occupancy excise | 32 nights | Massachusetts room occupancy excise |
| Michigan | Michigan use tax on rooms or lodging | 31 nights | Michigan use tax on lodging |
| Minnesota | Minnesota state sales tax | 30 nights | Minnesota lodging tax |
| Missouri | Missouri state sales tax | 31 nights | Missouri sales tax |
| New York | New York State sales tax on short-term rental unit occupancy | 90 nights | New York occupancy tax |
| North Carolina | North Carolina sales and use tax on accommodations | 90 nights | North Carolina occupancy tax |
| Oregon | Oregon state transient lodging tax | 30 nights | Oregon transient lodging tax |
| South Carolina | South Carolina sales tax on accommodations, South Carolina accommodations tax | 90 nights | South Carolina accommodations tax |
| Tennessee | Tennessee state sales tax, Local sales tax | 90 nights | Tennessee occupancy tax |
| Texas | Texas state hotel occupancy tax | 30 nights | Texas hotel occupancy tax |
| Utah | Utah state sales tax, Utah state transient room tax | 30 nights | Utah transient room tax |
| Virginia | Virginia retail sales and use tax on accommodations | 90 nights | Virginia transient occupancy tax |
City and county taxes keep their own count. In California, state law lets them tax stays of 30 days or less. Find your state in our occupancy tax guide before you quote a monthly rate.
Monthly guests change your income tax too. They raise your average stay, and an average above seven days can cost you the short-term rental tax loophole.
Insurance on a mid-term rental
Airbnb's host liability insurance follows the booking. The program summary says the incident must occur during an Airbnb stay arranged on its platform. A lease signed through another site is not an Airbnb stay.
Two limits matter even when the booking is on Airbnb:
- Wrongful eviction: the liability program lists it among its exclusions.
- Overstays: the Host Damage Protection terms treat any loss a guest causes after the stay expires as ineligible.
Those terms also state that Host Damage Protection "is not insurance."
Ask your own insurer one question before you switch. Does the policy cover a furnished home rented to one person for a month or longer? Our Airbnb insurance guide covers the policy types hosts carry.
Renting to travel nurses
A travel nurse needs a furnished place for the length of one assignment. The staffing agency Aya Healthcare says assignments are typically around 13 weeks, with both longer and shorter ones available.
Thirteen weeks is 91 nights. Check that number against both tables above. It decides whether a full assignment is a short-term rental where you are, and whether state lodging tax still applies.
Write the lease around the assignment. Use its end date as the lease end date, and add a clause for an extension if the hospital extends the contract.
Nurses are not the only demand. Furnished Finder says corporate travelers are now its largest tenant group, at 35% of booking requests.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes no count of travel nurses. Its figure covers every registered nurse: 3,465,400 jobs in 2025.
What a month-long stay needs from your home
A weekend guest never meets your trash schedule. A guest who stays 13 weeks takes the bins out a dozen times and changes an air filter along the way.
Answer those questions once, in writing. The welcome book template covers the same sections a monthly tenant needs. Our guide to the welcome book and house manual shows what goes in each.
A digital guidebook won't make a rental compliant. It keeps a three-month tenant from texting you about the thermostat.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mid-term rental?
It is a furnished home rented for about a month or longer, to one tenant at a time. The term comes from the market, not from the law. Airbnb's version is the monthly stay, a reservation of 28 or more consecutive nights.
How long is a mid-term rental?
It starts where your city's short-term rental definition ends, which is often 30 days. Stays commonly run several months. Furnished Finder reported an average of 107 days as of December 2025.
Do I need a short-term rental permit for a 30-day rental?
It depends on how your city words its definition. A rule covering "fewer than 30 days" leaves a 30-day rental out. One that covers "30 days or less" keeps it in. The table above gives the number for each place.
Does Airbnb allow mid-term rentals?
Yes. Airbnb calls a reservation of at least 28 consecutive nights a monthly stay. It applies a long-term cancellation policy and pays you monthly. The host service fee is not reduced.
Does a mid-term guest have tenant rights?
In some states, yes. New York protects an occupant from eviction without a court proceeding after thirty consecutive days. Florida and Texas set no day count. Both look at the agreement between you.
Do I charge occupancy tax on a 30-day stay?
Often not, but check your state. Some state taxes stop at 30 nights, others at 90. Local taxes follow their own rules.
Which mid-term rental platforms can I list on?
Three publish their host pricing. Furnished Finder charges $199 a year per property, with no booking commission. Corporate Housing by Owner sells annual packages from $399, and Airbnb takes monthly stays at its usual host fee.
How long do travel nurses rent for?
Aya Healthcare, a staffing agency, says assignments are typically around 13 weeks. That is 91 nights, so a lease for one assignment runs about three months.
Sources
All read on October 2, 2026.
- New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 768, New York State Senate.
- California Civil Code § 1940 and § 1946.2, California Legislative Information.
- California Revenue and Taxation Code § 7280, California Legislative Information.
- Florida Statutes § 83.42(3), § 83.43(18) and § 509.013(12), 2026 edition, Online Sunshine.
- Texas Property Code § 92.001 and § 92.002, Texas Constitution and Statutes.
- Airbnb Help Center, articles 475 (cancellation policies), 1857 (service fees), 2729 and 285 (monthly stays), 2869 (Host Damage Protection Terms, updated August 1, 2026) and 3145 (Host Liability Insurance summary, updated June 30, 2026).
- Furnished Finder, Subscription Prices and Listing Options, and 2026 Pricing and FAQs.
- Corporate Housing by Owner, pricing to list a property.
- Aya Healthcare, travel nursing questions.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Registered Nurses.
Alex P.
Founder of WonderGuest
I built the guest-experience tools for the FlexyLoc concierge service (digital guidebooks, interactive guides and videos) before launching WonderGuest. I write here about automating the guest experience in short-term rentals.
More about the author →A WiFi QR code is great.
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