By Murat Gocmen, Broker, Real Estate Tahoe | Firm: CA DRE #02235314 · NV B.1003327.LLC | September 2026
Real Estate Tahoe's short answer: yes. Incline Village and Crystal Bay are unincorporated Washoe County, and any rental of a home for fewer than 28 days needs a Washoe County short-term rental permit before the listing goes live. There is no permit cap and no owner-occupancy requirement, but there is an inspection, a $500,000 insurance certificate, a local responder, a 13 percent lodging tax license through RSCVA, and an HOA check that stops more Incline rentals than the county does (61 of the 144 associations Real Estate Tahoe tracks prohibit them). Our broker operates 45 Lake Tahoe rentals under these rules, and we check HOA and permit eligibility for every Incline buyer before the offer.
The rule, and who it applies to
Washoe County defines a short-term rental as lodging in all or part of a home "for a rental period of less than 28-days", and "A valid STR permit shall be obtained from Washoe County prior to advertising and operation" (Article 319, 110.319.15(a)(1)). Advertising counts, so you cannot post the listing and apply later.
The ordinance, adopted in March 2021 with enforcement from August 1 2021, applies only in unincorporated Washoe County, which is exactly what Incline Village and Crystal Bay are. One short booking a year counts.
- The permittee must be the property owner (110.319.15(a)(5)).
- One short-term rental per parcel (110.319.15(a)(6)).
- Since October 14 2024, no new permits in accessory dwelling units in the Tahoe planning area (current Article 319 text).
- "No events, parties, or weddings (regardless of payment or familial association), are allowed or may be advertised" (110.319.15(a)(4)).
There is no owner-occupancy requirement and no per-owner limit in Article 319. Our Washoe County rules page covers the ordinance section by section.
Which tier you are in
Maximum occupancy sets the tier, and the tier decides how hard the approval is (110.304.15(d)).
| Tier | Maximum occupancy | Approval path | Extra fee | Intake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 10 or fewer | Allowed use with an STR permit | None | Any time |
| Tier 2 | 11 to 20 | STR permit plus Administrative Review Permit (neighbors within 500 ft noticed, no hearing unless appealed) | $1,335.00 in the Tahoe area | 8th of each month only |
| Tier 3 | 21 or more | Special Use Permit, only where hotels and motels are allowed | Case by case | Case by case |
Occupancy and parking formulas
Occupancy is two people per legally permitted bedroom plus one per 200 square feet of remaining habitable space (110.319.15(e)(1), as amended by Ordinance 1686), children included. Worked example: three legal bedrooms plus 900 square feet of other habitable space is 6 plus 4, or 10 occupants, which is Tier 1. More than 10 occupants means Tier 2 and a monitored fire alarm system (110.319.20(c)(3)).
"One parking space is required for every four occupants", on site, with no street parking (110.319.15(b)(3)-(4)). The 10-occupant home above needs three on-site spaces; if the parcel has two, the county cuts the allowed occupancy to match. Spaces must be improved to TRPA standards, so a gravel pullout may not count.
What the application takes
The county application guide lists the package:
- Scaled, dimensioned site plan and floor plan.
- Proof the current quarter's property tax is paid.
- RSCVA transient lodging tax license number (110.319.10(g)), with no delinquent tax.
- Owner affidavit, with trust or LLC documents where title is held that way.
- Certificate of insurance with at least $500,000 liability per occurrence (110.319.15(a)(12)).
- A local responsible party who answers by phone or text within 30 minutes and is on site within one hour, 24/7 (110.319.15(a)(3)). A licensed property manager can fill this role.
Fees for Incline Village and Crystal Bay
From the county master fee sheet (October 2025), North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District area:
| Tier 1 fee | Owner as responsible party | Licensed property manager as responsible party |
|---|---|---|
| Initial permit | $1,253.20 | $1,170.00 |
| Renewal with inspection | $1,019.20 | $941.20 |
| Renewal with self-certification | $881.92 | $803.92 |
Those figures include a $174 fire component for properties rated Extreme or High wildland-urban-interface fire risk. NLTFPD bills its own time at $120 per hour, one plan-review hour plus one inspection hour initially, so budget another $240. Fees are paid before issuance. No county business license is needed, because the county treats short-term rentals as a residential use.
The inspections
Every application gets a county building life-safety inspection, and in Incline Village and Crystal Bay a fire district visit too: "NLTFPD will conduct a defensible space inspection for all short-term rental applications within Incline Village/Crystal Bay". The NLTFPD checklist adds a Knox box, egress lighting, escape ladders for windows over 16 feet, smoke and CO alarms under 10 years old, and 2A:10BC extinguishers. No septic inspection is required.
After a clean year, self-certification can replace the inspection for up to three renewals (110.319.35(a)), which is what the lower renewal fee above is for.
Timeline, term and renewal
The county does not publish a processing time: "Timing of permit issuance is dependent on STR application quality/completeness, STR Permit volume, and an STR Owners' availability". Plan on weeks, not days, and do not book until the permit is in hand. Tier 2 has a published clock after the 8th-of-the-month intake: 3 working days for completeness, 15 days of neighbor comment, 7 days to reply, 10 working days for a decision, then a 10-day appeal window (Article 809).
A permit is valid 12 months from issuance. The renewal window opens 30 days before expiry with a 30-day grace period. Miss it and the permit lapses, which means re-applying from scratch.
Operating rules once you have the permit
- Quiet hours 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily (110.319.15(c)(1)).
- Bear boxes or wildlife-resistant carts in IVGID's service territory (110.319.15(d)(2)).
- An educational packet in the kitchen or common area: bear brochure, NLTFPD safety sheet, evacuation routes (110.319.15(a)(13)).
- Every advertisement carries the permit number, the lodging tax license number and the maximum occupancy at the top. No on-site signage (110.319.15(a)(10)-(11)).
- A placard inside with maximum occupancy, exit plan and owner contact, plus the printed permit where guests can see it (inspection checklist).
- Address numbers at least 6 inches tall and visible from the road (110.319.20(c)(1)).
Operating without a permit is a misdemeanor with a stop-activity order and fines set by the county fee schedule. Three violations in one year mean automatic revocation and no new permit for a year (110.319.40); two noise violations in 12 months require a noise-management plan with decibel monitors (110.319.15(c)(2)).
Two things the county permit does not do
It does not override your HOA
The county is explicit: "the County's STR ordinance does not alter the ability of common interest communities to prohibit short term rentals through their CC&Rs" (110.319.10(a)(3)). In Incline Village this is the real gate. Real Estate Tahoe's table of 144 Incline Village and Crystal Bay associations and condo complexes shows 61 prohibit short-term rentals, 54 allow them and 29 are unclear. The condo-by-condo detail is on our Incline Village STR investment page; the eligibility layers for the whole lake are at /which-lake-tahoe-properties-can-be-airbnb/.
It does not get your guests onto IVGID beaches
IVGID Ordinance 7 issues Recreation Passes and Punch Cards only to owners and to tenants with a lease of six months or more. Guests may use the owner's Punch Card, with or without the owner present, but an owner "cannot sell access to the Beaches or receive compensation for access", and commercial use is prohibited. Beach entry needs a Picture Pass, Punch Card or Daily Guest Fee, five passes or cards per parcel. The FY2025-26 facility fee, $720 recreation plus $655 beach, $1,375 in all, stays on the owner's tax bill.
Taxes
Washoe County Districts A and B, which cover Incline Village and Crystal Bay, charge a 13.0 percent transient lodging tax on stays under 28 consecutive days. Every vacation-rental owner must hold an RSCVA transient lodging tax license, with one carve-out: hosts who book only through Airbnb are covered by Airbnb's general RSCVA number for the Tahoe Basin, the only platform with one. List on Vrbo or a direct-booking site and you hold your own license. Nevada has no state income tax, but Real Estate Tahoe does not give tax or legal advice; run the numbers with a CPA and have an attorney read your CC&Rs.
Incline versus the rest of the lake
"There is no cap on the number of STR permits in Washoe County", and no moratorium has been adopted. Across the state line, Douglas County caps its Tahoe Township at 600 permits and reported 560 issued as of September 15 2026, with a $120 waitlist fee and many neighborhoods marked Full (see /lake-tahoe-str-rules/douglas-county/). The California jurisdictions are capped too; Placer County sits at 3,393 active permits against a cap of 3,900. TRPA does not regulate short-term rentals and leaves that to local governments. Live counts for every jurisdiction are at /lake-tahoe-str-permit-availability/.
Buying in Incline with the permit in mind
The seller's permit does not transfer. The county FAQ puts it plainly: "No. The new owner must apply for a new permit." Because there is no cap, that is a process rather than a lottery, and a buyer with the insurance certificate, the responder and the RSCVA license lined up can apply right after recording. What a buyer cannot fix after closing is the HOA, so read the CC&Rs before the offer. The home search at /properties/ shows an STR-eligibility verdict on every Incline listing, our page on the risks of buying a Lake Tahoe Airbnb covers the traps, and sellers should read /selling-lake-tahoe-home-with-str-permit/ before promising a buyer anything.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit to run an Airbnb in Incline Village?
Yes. Incline Village is unincorporated Washoe County, and the county requires a short-term rental permit before you advertise or rent any home for fewer than 28 days. There is no cap and no owner-occupancy rule, but you need a county life-safety inspection, an NLTFPD defensible space inspection, $500,000 of liability insurance, a local responder and an RSCVA lodging tax license. Real Estate Tahoe verifies permit and HOA eligibility before any Incline offer.
Does the permit come with the house when I buy it?
No. Washoe County's own FAQ says the new owner must apply for a new permit, so the seller's permit ends with the sale. Because the county has no cap, a prepared buyer can apply promptly after closing, but nothing is rentable until the new permit issues. Real Estate Tahoe treats a seller's permit as evidence the home passed inspection once, nothing more.
Can my Airbnb guests use the Incline Village beaches?
Not on their own. IVGID issues Recreation Passes and Punch Cards only to owners and to tenants with leases of six months or longer. Guests may use the owner's Punch Card, but an owner cannot sell or charge for beach access, and commercial use is prohibited. Otherwise guests pay the Daily Guest Fee where offered. The $1,375 annual facility fee stays on the owner's tax bill.
Does my HOA have to allow short-term rentals if the county issues a permit?
No. The county permit does not override CC&Rs, and the ordinance says so directly. Of the 144 Incline Village and Crystal Bay associations Real Estate Tahoe tracks, 61 prohibit short-term rentals, 54 allow them and 29 are unclear. Check the association first; it is the most common reason an Incline condo cannot be an Airbnb, and no county process changes that.
Sources
- Washoe County STR FAQ (28-day definition, permit before advertising, no cap, new owner must apply, HOA and business-license positions, NLTFPD inspection)
- Washoe County Code Article 319, adopted March 2021 (tiers, owner-permittee, one per parcel, no events, insurance, responder, parking, operating rules, enforcement)
- Article 319, September 2024 text (ADU restriction in the Tahoe planning area)
- Washoe County staff report WSTRAR24-0003 (occupancy formula as amended by Ordinance 1686)
- Washoe County STR Application Guide (required documents, posting the permit, processing-time statement)
- Washoe County Master Fee Sheet, October 2025 (Tier 1 fees for the NLTFPD area, fire component, Tier 2 Administrative Review Permit fee)
- Washoe County STR program page (Tier 2 intake on the 8th of each month)
- Washoe County STR renewal page (30-day renewal window and grace period)
- Washoe County STR inspection checklist (interior placard requirements)
- Washoe Life: STR permits launch May 1 (permit and enforcement start dates)
- North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District STR page (fire district inspection items)
- NLTFPD fee schedule ($120 per hour, plan review plus inspection)
- RSCVA transient lodging tax regulations, section 3.1 (13.0 percent rate in Districts A and B)
- RSCVA transient lodging tax overview (license requirement for vacation-rental owners)
- RSCVA FAQs for Airbnb hosts (Airbnb-only hosts covered by Airbnb's general number)
- IVGID Ordinance 7, Resolution 1894 (six-month lease rule, guest use of Punch Cards, no selling access, no commercial use)
- IVGID beach rules and regulations (Picture Pass, Punch Card or Daily Guest Fee for beach entry)
- IVGID facility fee FAQ (FY2025-26 recreation and beach fees)
- TRPA on short-term rentals (TRPA delegates STR regulation to local governments)
- Douglas County VHR policy decisions (600-permit cap in the Tahoe Township)
- Douglas County VHR permit waitlist (560 permits as of September 15 2026, $120 waitlist fee)
Search Incline Village homes with the STR-eligibility filter at /properties/ and you will see the verdict on each listing before you ask for a showing. For the rules in every other Tahoe jurisdiction, start at /lake-tahoe-str-rules/.
