Can you short-term rent in the City of Lake Geneva?

Where rentals are allowed

A short-term rental is a stay of more than 6 but fewer than 29 consecutive days. It is allowed as an accessory use in every zoning district that allows homes, with an annual City license (Sec. 98-206(8)(y), as amended by Ordinance 24-13, adopted November 25, 2024).

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360), City of Lake Geneva

How often a home can be rented

Each stay must be at least 2 nights, and the next guest can't arrive until 7 days after the last guest arrived. If a guest arrives June 1, the next can arrive June 8 at the earliest. Rentals run in one season of up to 180 consecutive days in any 365, named on the license application. Outside that season, the next guest can't arrive for 29 days: rented November 1 to 7, the next arrival is November 30 at the earliest. Renting more often than that, more than 180 nights, or all year makes a home commercial lodging instead, a different land use.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360)

The license

Renewed every year by January 31, with a $250 late fee. It needs the City application naming the owner and a designated operator, a floor plan and site plan (bedrooms, ceiling heights, parking and trash areas), a City building code inspection with nothing left open, property and liability insurance, a state tourist rooming house license, a City room tax permit, a City general business license and the license fee, $1,300 a year as of 2026 (set by the Common Council). Licenses can't be transferred: a new owner must get a new license before renting.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360), City of Lake Geneva

Occupancy and the operator

The license sets the maximum occupancy from the state rule for tourist rooming houses (ATCP 72.14): each sleeping room needs 400 cubic feet of air space per guest over 12 and 200 per guest 12 and under, with ceilings of at least 7 feet. The owner, or a designated operator under a management contract, must live or have a business within 25 miles, answer the phone 24/7, respond promptly and keep a guest register for a year. The license and emergency contacts must be posted inside the home.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360)

Parking, signs and advertising

At least 2 off-street parking spaces, plus 1 for each bedroom over two, and no parking on gravel, lawn or planting beds. No signs or outdoor storage showing the home is a rental, and no RVs, campers or tents for guests. No advertising until the state and City licenses are issued. Every listing must show the City license number (or link to a page that does), may not advertise more guests than the license allows, and must state the on-site parking before a booking is confirmed.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360)

Penalties

Renting without the state and City licenses: $1,000 a day, plus any unpaid room tax. Major violations (listings missing required information, no operator within 25 miles, room tax more than 30 days late, unreported rentals, renting outside the calendar) are counted over a rolling 12 months: $250 a day the first time, $500 a day and a 3-month suspension the second, $1,000 a day and a 1-year suspension the third, and permanent loss of the license the fourth. Three police citations for guests at the same home within 12 months count as a major violation.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: Municipal code (eCode360)

License fee history

The license fee dropped from $2,000 to $750 in June 2020 (when the Knox Box became optional and inspections began to need the owner's consent or a warrant) and to $400 in January 2022, with refunds to owners. The fee is set by Common Council resolution and is $1,300 a year as of 2026.

Confirm with: City of Lake Geneva

Sources: CBS 58, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty

Licensed rentals today

The City registry listed 94 licensed short-term rentals on October 19, 2026, almost all single-family homes in older plats. None were in the condo-hotels, which run their own rental programs. The 2025 comprehensive plan recommends lobbying the state to let cities opt out or limit rentals to an owner's primary residence.

Sources: Village short-term rental license list, City of Lake Geneva