Renting your Frisco home by the night

The city asks for a floor plan that shows the proposed maximum number of guests, a guest safety information sheet, contact details for the owner, operator and agent, and a sworn statement that you comply with the ordinance. Frisco posts a sample floor plan and a guest safety checklist on its short-term rental page.

You must designate a 24-hour contact who can respond to complaints within one hour. The ordinance makes it a violation to let that contact information go out of date.

Frisco handles registration through the Neumo portal linked from friscotexas.gov/1759. Registration support is available at 1-877-352-3277, extension 5, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central.

The fee is $300 per address, it is nonrefundable, and the permit expires one year after it is issued. You can renew up to 60 days before expiration, and permits do not transfer to a new owner.

Frisco generally does not send an inspector. Instead you certify, under penalty of perjury, that the home has a working Type A fire extinguisher and working smoke detectors. The city can still inspect if it has a fire, building or zoning concern.

Once approved, the city emails your permit number. The ordinance makes it unlawful to advertise without it, so it belongs in your Airbnb, Vrbo and any other listing.

Renting a short-term rental to anyone under 21 is unlawful under section 18-465. Set the minimum age on your booking platform accordingly.

The ordinance bans rentals shorter than 24 hours, along with use for illegal activity, sober living homes, drug or alcohol sales and similar uses.

You cannot post a sign marking the home as a short-term rental, and tents, RVs, trailers and outdoor areas cannot be rented as sleeping space. Only the dwelling itself qualifies.

An alarm system does not have to exist, but if one does, it must be registered with the Frisco Police Department and listed on the permit. Registration is at alarmpermits.friscotexas.gov.

Guest parking must follow the zoning ordinance. Required parking cannot sit in the public right-of-way or an access easement, and yards cannot be used to meet it.

Operating without a permit can bring fines of $500 to $2,000 per day, according to the city FAQ. The city can also revoke a permit after a hearing for serious or repeated violations, and unpaid hotel tax is grounds to deny renewal.

A Frisco permit only means the city allows the use. Your subdivision's declaration of covenants can still limit or ban short leases, and courts generally enforce restrictions as written.

In Tarr v. Timberwood Park (2018), the Texas Supreme Court held that the restrictions in that case, a single-family structure requirement and a residential-use clause, did not by themselves prohibit short-term rentals. In JBrice Holdings (2022), the court held an association could not use rules to ban rentals under 30 days when its covenants did not allow that restriction. Both turned on specific wording, as summarized by the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center in February 2025.

Texas courts uphold covenant amendments when the original restrictions allow amending, the change improves rather than destroys the scheme, and it is legal. One amendment requiring a 180-day minimum lease was upheld. A neighborhood that allows short stays today can vote to restrict them later.

Ask for the recorded declaration, every amendment, the bylaws and current rules, and read the leasing section line by line. Look for minimum lease terms, rental caps, registration requirements and occupancy limits. In a resale, the HOA documents arrive during the contract, so read them inside your option period.