Vacation Rental Management in Whitefish, MT

Short-term rentals are allowed — by zone, on both sides of the city line

Inside Whitefish city limits, short-term rentals (stays of less than 30 days) are allowed in two parts of town. One is downtown, on Central Avenue and the blocks of Baker, Spokane, Lupfer and O'Brien Avenues between Railway Street and East Third Street (the WB-3 General Business district). The other is the resort districts north of downtown along Wisconsin Avenue and East Lakeshore Drive, including Bay Point Drive and the streets off Colorado Avenue and Fairway Drive (WRR-1, WRR-2, WRB-1 and WRB-2). The city's other residential neighbourhoods do not allow them. The city's short-term rental zoning map shows each parcel, so check it before you buy or convert.

Many Whitefish-addressed homes sit outside city limits, in unincorporated Flathead County, where county zoning decides. Short-term rentals are permitted outright in some county zones, allowed with an administrative conditional use permit in others — including the AG, SAG, R, RA and RC zones — and not allowed in the rest. On unzoned land, no county planning permit is required.

Lodging taxes

Every stay of less than 30 days carries Montana's combined 8% lodging facility tax — 4% sales tax plus 4% use tax — administered by the Montana Department of Revenue. A seller's permit is required before you begin, and returns are quarterly.

Inside city limits the City of Whitefish adds a 3% resort tax on lodging, for 11% in total. It is reported monthly, by the 20th of the following month, even in a month with no stays. Outside city limits, the state's 8% is the whole of it.

Registering your rental

Inside the city, the sequence is:

• Apply for a Montana Public Accommodation License for a Tourist Home through the Flathead County health department, which reviews plans and inspects before licensing. The licence renews annually.
• Register for the state lodging tax.
• File the city's Short-Term Rental Permit and Business Registration — $400 a year, renewed by January 1 — with a scaled site plan showing the required parking and proof of the health licence application.
• Pass the Whitefish Fire Marshal's inspection, repeated every year.
• Begin remitting the resort tax monthly.

Outside the city, the state licence and tax registration still apply, plus county zoning. A conditional use permit brings notice to neighbours within 150 feet and about two weeks of comment before a decision. Where the use is permitted outright, the operator certifies compliance with the county's performance standards and mails neighbours within 150 feet the property manager's contact details.

How Fairly handles it

We register your home for the Montana lodging tax and, inside city limits, the Whitefish resort tax, and collect and remit both on every booking. We assist with the zoning check, the city permit or county use permit, the health licence and the annual fire inspection.