Clark County, Nevada, will appeal ruling in short-term rental lawsuit

Clark County, Nevada, will appeal a decision by a federal judge to grant short-term rental (STR) operators a temporary reprieve from STR requirements and penalties. U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du issued the preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the county filed by the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association (GLVSTRA) in December 2025. The county voted to appeal January 6, 2026.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2025, claimed the county’s licensing ordinance is burdensome and that it “arbitrarily bars most property owners from applying for a license.” Du’s ruling means Clark County can’t require an STR license for operators, issue or enforce daily fines, declare STRs a public nuisance, or record liens or special assessments while the case proceeds.

In 2021, the state passed a law requiring Clark County and a few cities to allow STRs, regulate them, and make them subject to lodging taxes. Previously, STRs were banned in unincorporated areas of Clark County. The county passed its STR law in June 2022.

In March 2023, the county held a lottery to determine the order in which 1,306 applications for STR licenses would be processed. Since then, Clark County has issued only 174 licenses, according to the lawsuit, which alleges that the brief application window and slow processing amount to a ban on STRs.

Under the law, STR operators are required to:

• Obtain a state business license.
• Apply for a local STR license and undergo safety inspections annually.
• Designate a local representative for the rental who is available 24 hours a day/seven days a week and can respond to any issues within 30 minutes.
• Maintain liability coverage.
• Install noise-monitoring devices at the property lines of their front and back yards, as well as around outdoor pools and spas.

Other county rules include:

• Fines for violations can range from $500 to $1,000 a day.
• STR licenses are limited to 1% of housing stock.
• Operators may hold no more than one license per person.
• STRs must be located at least 1,000 feet away from each other and at least 2,500 feet from a resort casino.
• STRs within a multifamily dwelling are limited to no more than 10% of units, but are prohibited in apartment buildings.

The law was amended in 2023 following a previous legal challenge by GLVSTRA, but most of the rules remain unchanged.

Clark County STRs are subject to transient lodging taxes that are paid by guests but collected by operators and passed on to the county. The county requires accommodations facilitators such as Airbnb and Vrbo to be licensed and to collect county lodging taxes for all their listings. STR operators who don’t use a facilitator are responsible for lodging tax collection and filing directly with the county.

MyLodgeTax can help STR hosts automate lodging tax to streamline and simplify lodging tax compliance. For more information on lodging taxes, see our Nevada vacation rental tax guide. If you have tax questions related to vacation rental properties, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you with answers.