LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Appellate court judges are seemingly siding with homeowners after hearing arguments on issues with Clark County’s short-term rental process.
"The ruling is actually a great victory for us. It not only says that the injunction was right to be issued but it also affirms that people, homeowners have the right, the inherent right, to rent their property on a short-term basis," said Jackie Flores, a short-term rental host and founder of the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association.
WATCH | Federal appeals court rules on Clark County short-term rental process
The county appealed a federal judge’s decision to put an injunction in place in December 2025. The injunction came after the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association sued the county.
That judge determined the county’s short-term rental licensing process was likely illegal. The decision pointed to slow application processing times and fines for homeowners looking to rent out their space through companies like Airbnb.
The appellate court’s ruling says “The portal for short-term rental licenses only opened for a single window between 2022 and 2023. Since then, Clark County has not accepted any applications for short-term rentals or finished processing the applications that it has received.”
Appellate judges also said the District Court’s decision to put an injunction in place was not a bad one, but it’s too broad.
They said it “effectively authorizes anyone in the County to operate unlicensed short-term rentals, including nonparties and those who have never applied for a license. This goes beyond maintaining the “status quo.”
Court papers indicate Clark County officials may be willing to re-open their application portal if there’s a more narrowly worded injunction imposed.
"The best thing would be to just open up the application process up immediately," said John Marshall, a co-host of short-term rental properties in Clark County.
Clark County Responded in a statement:
“The County appreciates the Court’s finding that the District Court’s injunction was overly broad. In narrowing the injunction, the County will be able to enforce our laws against those short-term rentals which disrupt our communities and harm our quality of life. The remaining concerns raised by the Court are being addressed in an ordinance amending the County’s short-term rental law, which is scheduled to be introduced at the October 20th Board of County Commissioners meeting.”
You can find the ordinance amendment proposal and the October 20 board meeting agenda here.
"There are a couple of good changes that they’re doing but there are several that are not as good and that’s the problem with the county. They create more problems instead of fixing them," said Flores, who plans to be at the meeting.
The county already unanimously passed an ordinance amendment in August, trying to prevent platforms like Airbnb from accepting payments from guests wanting to stay in unlicensed short-term rentals in unincorporated Clark County.
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