Clark County Short Term Rental Application: Lottery Is Out

Clark County, Nevada has not taken a new short term rental application since August 21, 2023. On November 3, 2026, the Board of County Commissioners voted 7-0 to adopt Ordinance 5427, which deletes the lottery and the once a year application window from Chapter 7.100 of the county code and replaces them with a rolling queue. The board's action summary lists the effective date as November 18, 2026.

The ordinance answers the Ninth Circuit, which found on October 7, 2026 that the county had not accepted applications since a single window in 2022 and 2023. We covered the three year backlog in September and the narrowed injunction in October. This piece covers what an owner needs in hand before appointment slots open on January 5, 2027.

Key facts

• Clark County commissioners approved Ordinance 5427 on November 3, 2026 by a 7-0 vote, effective November 18, 2026, according to the board's action summary.
• The Department of Business License's hearing presentation sets revised applications for December 15, 2026 and opens appointment scheduling on January 5, 2027, first come, first served, in person, at 168 appointments a week.
• Complete applications are decided "in the order in which they were received," each within 45 business days of the final determination on the one before it, per the ordinance text.
• Of 830 complete applications from 2023, the county has approved 242 licenses and has 47 pending as of November 3, 2026, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rogan told the board, per FOX5.
• The cap stays at 1% of unincorporated housing units, now one countywide pool, per News 3 Las Vegas; the county put the 2024 figure at 2,940 licenses, per KTNV.

What the board adopted on November 3, 2026

The item amends Chapter 7.100, the short term rental license chapter, and zoning Chapters 30.03 and 30.07 "to add short-term rentals as a conditional commercial use in certain zoning districts," according to the Legistar file. Business License Director Vincent Queano petitioned for it.

Two cautions. The sections quoted here come from the ordinance as introduced on October 20; the agenda packet lists hearing amendments in a scanned attachment with no readable text, so check the codified chapter when the county posts it. And the action summary records a November 18 effective date while the department's slides, prepared before the hearing, show December 1. The applicant dates, December 15 and January 5, come from those slides and match FOX5's report.

How the new application process works

A queue replaces the drawing

Section 7.100.100 loses the annual application period, the random number generator, and the list reviewed in drawn order. New section 7.100.110(a) says complete applications "will be considered for approval in the order in which they were received by the department." The presentation adds that order is "set at the appointment, not by a drawing."

Applications are in person, by appointment, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with three technicians and capacity for 168 appointments a week. Scheduling opens at 8 a.m. on January 5, 2027, and your place in line is your appointment time.

The 45 business day clock, and what stops it

Section 7.100.110(b) gives the department 45 business days to decide an application, counted from the final determination on the application ahead of it. The clock pauses while the department waits for requested information, during any inspection, and during any Title 30 review.

Two deadlines bind the applicant: 14 calendar days to answer an information request or schedule the fire inspection, with silence a listed ground for denial. The inspection targets a pass or fail within 14 days on average.

The arithmetic: 45 business days is nine working weeks, and each clock starts when the previous file is decided, so read it as the limit for one file, not a nine week license.

The fee stack

The ordinance fixes a nonrefundable $45 application fee in section 7.100.090(c)(1) and a nonrefundable $150 inspection fee in section 7.100.110(e). The annual license fee is referenced to the general business license chapter rather than stated; the county's current fee table lists $750 for three or fewer bedrooms and $1,500 for more than three.

Year one is $45 + $150 + $750 = $945 for a three bedroom house, or $45 + $150 + $1,500 = $1,695 for four bedrooms or more. Renewal under section 7.100.130 requires an updated insurance certificate, the annual fee, a $150 inspection if the department deems one necessary, and "payment of all fines, fees and costs stemming from violations of this code."

Who can apply now who could not before

The introduced text strikes former section 7.100.080(h), which barred anyone with multiple substantiated code violations in the prior 36 months. As FOX5 put it, those fined by the county "could also still be eligible for a license."

The catch is renewal. Section 7.100.130(b)(2) still conditions every annual renewal on paying all fines, fees and costs from code violations. An owner with an unpaid citation can join the queue in January, but the bill comes due at the first renewal, and under the county FAQ unlicensed operation is fined "not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 per day."

The cap: 1% of unincorporated housing units, now one pool

Old section 7.100.050 capped each unincorporated area at 1% of its own housing units with a floor of one license apiece. The new text sets one limit: licenses "shall not exceed one percent of the total number of housing units located in the unincorporated areas of Clark County," rounded down and recalculated yearly.

In April 2025, Queano put the cap at 2,826 licenses on the 2021 count and 2,940 on the 2024 count, per KTNV. A 1% cap of 2,940 implies about 294,000 housing units (2,940 × 100 = 294,000). Against that ceiling the county has issued 242 licenses with 47 pending; if every pending file were approved, 289 licenses would use 9.8% of the cap and leave 2,651 open.

The cap is not what keeps the number low. Queano said in 2025 that "the denials are due to distance separation between short-term rentals," and the November 3 slides show why: 241 licensed rentals, each excluding every property within 1,000 feet, clustered in Spring Valley, Winchester and Enterprise. Our density cap post argued that spacing rules and denominators matter more than the percentage; Clark County is the case study. The same split, structural rules over the fee, is what Haven Research's compliance-cost audit finds across U.S. markets.

Why the association calls the zoning change a problem

The separation rules used to sit in the license chapter as section 7.100.080(f): 2,500 feet from a resort hotel and 1,000 feet from a licensed short term rental. The ordinance strikes both in favor of a cross reference to Chapter 30.03. New section 30.03.06(E) carries the same distances, measured radially, with one wording change: the 1,000 foot buffer now runs from "any existing short-term rental use," not from a licensed one.

Table 30.03-1 gets a "Short-Term Rental" row marked "C," which the legend defines as "permitted with conditions," in 14 districts.

Jackie Flores, founder of the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association, told News 3 in October that the association saw "two genuine improvements," ending the lottery and removing the bar on applicants with past fines, but that the reclassification "fundamentally mischaracterizes the residential use of one's own home." After the vote she called the package "superficial or cosmetic changes," per News 3.

The practical point is where the rule now lives. The staff report frames the ordinance as recognizing the commercial use of these units, and a future board that wants tighter districts or distances now edits a zoning table.

What this does to the federal case

The Ninth Circuit's October 7, 2026 memorandum in Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association v. Clark County kept the finding that the county likely violated due process and cut the part of Judge Miranda Du's December 2025 injunction that protected people who never applied. KTNV reported the panel's words: the injunction "effectively authorizes anyone in the County to operate unlicensed short-term rentals." The county told KTNV its remaining concerns "are being addressed in an ordinance"; this is that ordinance.

The department's slides state the standard it is trying to meet: applicants should have "a meaningful opportunity to apply for a license," processed "in a reasonable time." Whether a December portal and a 45 business day clock satisfy Judge Du on remand is open; the ordinance never mentions the lawsuit.

One more item: the same agenda introduced Bill 11-3-26-1, cutting the appeal period on Business License director decisions from 30 calendar days to 14, with a hearing set for November 17, 2026, per the action summary.

What a Clark County owner should do before January 5, 2027

Pull the assessor record now and confirm the bedroom count and owner of record. Section 7.100.160 fixes occupancy at "the lesser of two persons per bedroom or ten persons per residential unit," using the assessor's count on the application date, and the annual fee tier turns on the same count.

Run the 1,000 foot check yourself; the county's public map is current as of November 1, 2026, and an existing short term rental use within 1,000 feet or a resort hotel within 2,500 feet is a denial.

Line up what section 7.100.170 requires: liability insurance of "not less than five hundred thousand ($500,000) dollars per occurrence," noise monitors at the front and rear property lines and near any pool or spa with 60 days of data retention, a local representative who can reach the unit "within thirty minutes," and a 24 hour complaint line. Also required: a sewer connection, HOA documents that expressly allow the use, and no other short term rental in the county.

Pay outstanding county fines before you file. The application bar is gone; the renewal condition is not.

Budget $945 or $1,695 for year one and hold the date: scheduling opens at 8 a.m. on January 5, 2027, in person, first come, first served.

If you list without a license, the platform ordinance effective September 2, 2026 requires booking sites to verify a license before taking payment; our booking ban post covers it. Once the license is in hand, a direct booking site on your own domain has no platform verification step in between. Haven builds branded direct booking websites for hosts with no booking commission; see bookwithhaven.com.

What to watch next

Publication of the adopted text, which will show whether hearing amendments changed any section quoted here. The December 15 forms and Judge Du's replacement injunction. And January, which will show whether 168 appointments a week beats the six applications a week the county admitted to in 2025, per KTNV.

FAQ

When can I apply for a short term rental license in Clark County, Nevada?

The Department of Business License's November 3, 2026 presentation sets revised applications for December 15, 2026 and opens appointment scheduling on January 5, 2027, in person, first come, first served.

Did Clark County end the short term rental lottery?

Yes. Ordinance 5427, approved 7-0 on November 3, 2026, strikes the annual window and the random drawing from section 7.100.100 and replaces them with review "in the order in which they were received."

How long will Clark County take to decide my application?

Section 7.100.110(b) allows 45 business days from the final determination on the application ahead of yours, paused during information requests, inspections and Title 30 review.

Can I apply if I was fined for operating without a license?

Under the introduced text, yes: the 36 month bar for applicants with multiple substantiated violations is struck. Renewal still requires payment of all fines, fees and costs from code violations under section 7.100.130(b)(2).

Is there still a cap on Clark County short term rental licenses?

Yes. Licenses cannot exceed 1% of housing units in unincorporated Clark County, now one countywide pool; the county put the 2024 figure at 2,940, with 242 approved and 47 pending as of November 3, 2026. The binding constraint in practice is the 1,000 foot separation rule.