With a few notable exceptions the City of New Orleans residential Short-Term Rental (STR) regulations[1] enacted by City Council in March 2023 and in 2024 were largely upheld in September and October 2025, in separate decisions by the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The Fifth Circuit made it plain from the start in its October 7, 2025, decision that “the City has the authority under state law to regulate STRs.” The Court noted that “STR ordinances plainly fall within the City’s broad authority to regulate the ‘use of [a] . . . residence’ for short-term rentals, which are defined temporally by the length of a guest’s stay.”[2] The Court considered the constitutional challenges to the regulations and concluded that:

  • Business entities are entitled to obtain an STR owner or operator permit as prohibiting them violates the Equal Protection Clause;
  • The City of New Orleans cannot restrict STR advertisements to only one dwelling unit because such restrictions violate the First Amendment;
  • Out-of-state residents may obtain an STR operator permit and act as STR operators as long as they are present on the premises and available during stays by STR guests, so as not to violate the dormant Commerce Clause.

History of Residential STR Regulations in New Orleans

Over the past nine years the regulation of residential STRs in the City of New Orleans has been on a roller coaster ride. Beginning in 2017, the City first offered STR licenses with few requirements on license holders. After a reevaluation of STRs by the City Planning Commission, the City Council enacted sharper limits in 2019 intended to protect the character of New Orleans neighborhoods, limit noise and trash nuisances, and preserve affordable housing stock. This ordinance restricted STR licenses to owners who lived in the home as their primary residence and prohibited STR license-holders from “(1) advertising illegal STRs and (2) advertising legal STRs with greater capacities than permitted by their licenses.”[3] The 2023 ordinance then revised the residency requirement so that license holders did not have to own the home; limited residential licenses to one per square city block to be awarded by lottery[4], included the requirement that the licensed operator live on the premises, limited property owners to only one STR license, and increased penalties for violations.[5] In 2024 the City enacted regulations on third-party STR platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and others doing business in New Orleans requiring them to “verify that its host-users possess a valid STR permit . . . before collecting a booking fee” and mandated that the STR platforms give the City monthly reports with details on transactions and properties in compliance with the law.[6]

Recent STR Regulatory Disputes

Property owners and Airbnb, Inc. sued the City of New Orleans in February 2025 seeking to have the residential STR regulations dismissed on state and federal constitutional grounds. Judge Jay C. Zainey of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed 10 out of the 11 claims. The Judge upheld the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment challenge finding that the 2024 Ordinance’s requirement that Airbnb submit monthly reports of its business records is unreasonable because there is no opportunity for Airbnb to “contest the administrative search by the City before a neutral officer” prior to being penalized for not complying.[7]

Special Exception Process Ended

The City Planning Commission issued a Notice on October 9, 2025, officially discontinuing the “special exception process” that had provided a bit of an escape valve to the one-per-square-block limit on STRs. The 2023 Ordinance had allowed a process whereby a second or even third property owner had the chance to obtain an STR license by going through a process that involved seeking neighborhood support and then approval by the respective City Councilmember. This was changed in September 2024 when the City Council prohibited the review of any special exception applications submitted after September 19, 2024.[8] A total of 373 applications were received prior to the deadline and 267 were complete and able to be processed.

Current STR Status

The result of all the ups and downs with the residential STR regulation is an active market in New Orleans with 1,358 licensed NSTRs as of February 2025 plus 1,134 licensed CSTRs. According to the Transient Lodging Study commissioned by the City Planning Commission there were over 7,500 noncompliant STRs as of March 2025.[9] This has decreased by 88% as of August 2025. All current NSTR licensees, as well as licensed bed and breakfasts, and neighborhood zones where transient housing is prohibited are posted online for anyone to see.[10] Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts are permitted to obtain an XSTR license to be allowed to list their transient lodging on rental platforms like Airbnb.

Transient Lodging

Since June 8, 2023, there has been a moratorium on new Commercial Short Term Rentals (CSTRs) in New Orleans pending a study on the impact that underregulated CSTRs have had on the housing market, local economy, and quality of life. In advance of the expected expiration on November 5, 2025, the City Council adopted a unanimous motion directing the City Planning Commission to hold a public hearing on a new Interim Zoning District (IZD) that would require the approval of a conditional use by ordinance for any hotel/motel, hostel, commercial short term rental, timeshare, or bed and breakfast where such are currently permitted uses in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.[11]

The Transient Lodging Study prepared for the City Planning Commission has taken longer than expected and is now set for public hearing on December 9, 2025.[12] This Study addresses banning whole-home or whole-building CSTRs and limits on the number of CSTR units per building. The Study addresses CSTRs and all other transient lodging including hotels, motels, timeshares, hostels, and bed and breakfasts, including:

  • Limitation on number of rooms and guests, by unit
  • Other density limitations, which may vary by zoning district, zoning district classification, future land use designation or other such land use designation
  • Number of permits allowed per owner and/or operator
  • Requirement that each permit holder is a natural person, not a juridical person
  • Strengthened requirements, including density limitations and other standards, for transient lodging uses that (1) abut residential or mixed-use zoning districts, and/or (2) are located in a building that also houses long term residents, so as to mitigate quality of life impacts
  • A requirement for transient lodging uses to be located on the same lot, parcel, or building as other commercial uses
  • Possible use of transient lodging allowances to incentivize the development and/or preservation of affordable and/or workforce housing
  • In buildings with units used for both long term and short-term housing, requiring separate entrances to access short term dwelling units
  • Requiring other standards for entry, including keypads
  • Requiring on-site operators
  • Requiring a 24/7 staffed front-desk in a publicly accessible space
  • Overall impact of CSTRs and other transient lodging uses on the availability of long-term housing – affordable, workplace, and market-rate — and possible measures to mitigate such impacts, including but not limited to an overall cap on person or permits who may participate in the CSTR and other transient lodging markets, and increasing the price of a CSTR owner and/or operator permits.
  • Establishing and/or modifying use standards for transient lodging uses as may be necessary, including for hotel/motel.
  • Closing loopholes that allow buildings operating as hotels, other transient lodging uses or long-term residences to allocate 100 percents of units to CSTR use.

The recommendations in the Study include extensive updates to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to restrict transient lodging in various ways including adding size classifications based on number of bedrooms to scale transient lodging to neighborhoods and mandating that management be on call 24/7 to respond to complaints at larger lodgings. We are closely monitoring the upcoming CSTR hearings before the City Council and will provide updates.

Molly Vigour brings her experience in business licensing, entity formation, lease extensions and disputes, and land use issues to the firm’s New Orleans office.

[1] Residential Short-Term Rentals in New Orleans are officially known as Non-Commercial Short Term Rentals (NSTRs) while STRs in commercial zones are CSTRs. Short Term Rental Administration – Announcements – Short Term Rental Update – City of New Orleans

[2] Hignell-Stark v. City of New Orleans, 154 F. 4th 345, 352 (U.S. Ct of App. 5th Cir. Oct. 7, 2025) (citing La. Rev. Stat. § 33:4721 and Deslonde v. St. Tammany Parish, 391 So. 3d 706, 716 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2024)). The out-of-state Hignell-Starkproperty owners originally sued the City on constitutional grounds challenging the City’s 2019 STR regulations after their STR licenses were not renewed. Id.  

[3] Hignell-Stark v. City of New Orleans, 46 F. 4th 317, 321 (U.S. Ct of App. 5th Cir. 2022) (citing NEW CODE § 26-618(b)(1) – (4)) (Hignell-Stark I).

[4] The first lottery was conducted in City Council Chambers on August 14, 2023, where an actual bingo ball cage was used to choose the winner on contested blocks. Visit Short-Term Rental Lottery 8/14/23 to see for yourself.

[5] Bret Bodin, et al. vs. City of New Orleans, Case 2:25-cv-00329, U.S. Dist. Court Eastern Dist. La., filed Sept. 8, 2025 (Appeal filed by Bret Bodin, et al. Sept. 17, 2025).

[6] Id. at 6 (citing NEW CODE § 26-622).

[7] Id. at 42.

[8] The Non-Commercial Short-Term Rental Special Exception Interim Zoning District was established by City Council Motion No. M-24-493.

[9] Microsoft Word – 2025.10.28 Final Report Draft at pages 6, 10 of Report. Microsoft PowerPoint – NOLA-10.28-DRAFT-CPCBriefV2 at slides 6 – 8.

[10] Non-Commercial Short Term Rental License Map

[11] M-25-530-(SUBSTITUTE-MOTION).pdf

[12] City Planning – Topics – Major Studies & Projects – Transient Lodging Study – City of New Orleans