Yes, you do. Atlantic City treats any rental of 90 days or less as a short-term rental, and you need the city’s sign-off before your first guest checks in. It applies whether you list on Airbnb, Vrbo, or anywhere else.
Here’s what the city asks for as of this writing. Rules and fees change, so confirm the details on the city’s short-term rental page before you apply.
An application and a fee. You apply through the city’s online portal with the property’s address, block and lot, and owner details. There’s an application fee, currently $150.
An annual license fee. It’s based on how many people the place sleeps, and currently runs from $1,000 for up to six guests to $1,800 for the largest homes.
An inspection. The city inspects the property and sets your occupancy limit. Outstanding code violations have to be fixed first.
Taxes and bills paid up. Property taxes, water, and sewer need to be current.
Proof of insurance. This is the one that trips people up. The city wants general liability coverage of at least $300,000 that specifically covers short-term rental use. A regular homeowners policy usually doesn’t qualify, because most of them exclude renting to paying guests.
That last step is where we come in. We’re independent brokers who work with shore owners, and we can set up shore rental coverage that meets the city’s requirement and get you the certificate the application asks for. No pressure, and happy to just answer questions if you’re still deciding.
A few practical things.
- Guests pay lodging taxes on top of the nightly rate. The platforms collect some of it, but not always all of it, so check what’s left for you to handle.
- Winter is slower but not dead, since the Boardwalk in winter stays open and the casinos never close.
- Big groups are a huge part of the market here. Our breakdown of a group weekend there shows what your guests are budgeting for.
One more thing if the property sits near the bay or the inlet. A rental policy doesn’t cover flood any more than a home policy does. That’s a separate policy, so look at New Jersey flood insurance too.