Seattle short-term rental license: your home, plus one other unit, and the number that has to match the format

Sergej Sitki · founder of ReceptionGO and host
Published November 4, 2026 · 4 min read

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change often and vary by state, county and city — confirm your situation with the local agency or a CPA.

Seattle requires a short-term rental operator license and a city business license. Most operators may license two units: their primary residence and one other unit anywhere in the city. The regulatory fee is $75 per unit per year. Every listing has to show the license as STR-OPLI-##-######. Platforms remove listings when the format is wrong.

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Seattle’s bargain with hosts is specific. You may rent your own home, and you may rent one more unit in the city. You may not assemble a portfolio. The city enforces that less by inspecting bedrooms and more by refusing to license the third door — and by telling platforms to drop listings whose license number is missing or mistyped.

The sequence

People fail the application by doing it backwards. The city wants:

a Seattle business license tax certificate, then a 48-hour wait so the system sees it;
an RRIO registration on a secondary unit before the STR application, because a home you do not live in is a rental in the ordinary sense as well;
the operator license in the Seattle Services Portal, $75 a unit, with the addresses attached.

The primary unit is documented with two records that show you live there. The secondary unit can be anywhere in the city, and it needs the RRIO number on the form. Grandfathered operators — units that were lawfully short-term rented before September 30, 2017 — have a different row on the city’s summary table. If that is you, use the table, not this paragraph.

The listing

The license has to appear on every advertisement in the format STR-OPLI-##-######. Seattle says this in bold on its own page because hosts were burying the number and platforms were pulling the ads. Renewal is twelve months from issuance. Miss it and you are unlicensed, which is an enforcement case, not a grace period.

Tax is the other license

Washington’s lodging taxes are a stack: state sales and lodging, plus local add-ons. Seattle’s operator license does not enroll you in them. Platforms collect in some of these jurisdictions and not others, and they never collect on a booking that did not come through them. The way to think about the gap — one list of stays, tagged by channel — is the occupancy tax guide. Where Seattle sits against cities that ban investors entirely is in short-term rental laws by city.

Two units still means two arrivals. The useful setup is the same check-in on both: who is coming, the house rules, a code that dies at checkout. That flow is self check-in for vacation rentals. It does not raise your unit cap. It keeps the two you are allowed from becoming a complaint file.

From our own practiceCaps fail when the third listing is “just a website”. Cities that publish a required number format are telling you they can see every URL. Count the doors you are advertising, not the doors you think of as the business.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run several Airbnbs in Seattle?

Generally, no. An operator — a person, a household, or a company — licenses up to two dwelling units, and one of them has to be a primary residence. A few operators who were already legal before September 30, 2017 kept a narrow grandfather. Do not buy a third condo on the assumption you will be one of them.

What is a primary residence here?

The place you usually return to, where you get mail and run daily life. The director’s rule asks for two supporting documents at application or renewal: tax, insurance, voter, pay, lease, mortgage, bank, driver’s license, state ID or vehicle registration. An LLC can be on the license, but each principal is still limited, and one of the units has to be a principal’s actual home.

How much is the license, and when do I renew?

$75 per unit, every year, on the anniversary of the day it was issued. A license issued March 15 renews by the next March 15. The city emails the address on the license. There is also the ordinary Seattle business license tax certificate, which is a separate renewal.

What happens if the number is formatted wrong?

The city says platforms may remove the listing. The format is STR-OPLI-##-######, for example STR-OPLI-21-000123. A handwritten “license on file” does not satisfy it.

Do I still owe lodging tax?

Yes. Washington taxes short-term lodging, and Seattle has its own taxes on top of the state. A license is not a tax return. Confirm what Airbnb or Vrbo remits for your listing, and register for anything they do not, including every direct booking.

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Sources

Rules last checked on October 22, 2026.