Quick answer: A Royal Oak loft owner should not assume that owning the unit creates an automatic right to advertise it on Airbnb, Vrbo, or another short-term-rental platform. The owner must satisfy two separate layers of permission: the City of Royal Oak’s zoning, licensing, building, fire, and operating requirements, and the development’s current master deed, bylaws, rules, leasing policy, and board procedures. Permission from one does not override a prohibition imposed by the other.
Last reviewed: July 29, 2026. Short-term-rental rules, condominium documents, taxes, and platform procedures can change. This article is educational and is not legal, tax, insurance, or zoning advice.
Airbnb and Vrbo are advertising platforms, not permission
Airbnb or Vrbo may allow an owner to create a listing, but a live platform listing does not establish that the use is lawful. The owner remains responsible for confirming local land-use rules, required licenses, condominium restrictions, taxes, insurance, mortgage terms, safety requirements, parking, guest conduct, and every other obligation connected with the stay.
Airbnb’s own hosting guidance tells owners to check zoning, permits, taxes, building rules, leases, condominium documents, and homeowners association restrictions before hosting. Vrbo users face the same practical issue: a platform cannot grant rights that the city or condominium documents withhold.
Royal Oak treats stays of 30 days or less as transient accommodations
Royal Oak’s current code defines a tourist home as a building with fewer than 10 rooms or rental units that provides paid accommodations to transient guests for periods of 30 consecutive days or less. The code also defines a transient guest as a person lodging for compensation for 30 consecutive days or less.
The same chapter states that a person or business may not operate a hotel, motel, bed-and-breakfast, rooming house, boardinghouse, or tourist home in Royal Oak without first obtaining the required license. The city may impose conditions, require a written plan of operation, conduct building and fire review, and require continued compliance with other city and state regulations.
What this means for a loft owner
A whole-unit Airbnb or Vrbo stay of 30 nights or less may fall within Royal Oak’s transient-accommodation framework. Because the code was not written specifically around modern condominium platforms, owners should obtain a written determination from the City Clerk and the Planning or Community Development Department about the exact unit, zoning district, building classification, and required approvals before advertising or accepting payment.
A city license does not automatically make the use permitted by zoning
Licensing and zoning are separate questions. A license regulates an allowed operation; it does not necessarily convert a residential condominium into an approved transient-lodging use. The owner should ask the city to confirm all of the following in writing:
- How the proposed use is classified under the Royal Oak zoning ordinance.
- Whether that classification is permitted at the development’s address and zoning district.
- Whether a hotel, tourist-home, business, rental, or other license is required.
- Whether a special land-use approval, site-plan review, inspection, or City Commission action is required.
- Whether the unit and building satisfy applicable fire, building, egress, occupancy, and property-maintenance standards.
- Whether parking, signage, guest registration, housekeeping, telephone, or operating-plan requirements apply.
The City of Royal Oak’s Planning Division currently lists 248-246-3280 for zoning questions. Owners should also contact the City Clerk concerning Chapter 394 licensing rather than relying on a platform, a neighboring owner, an old listing, or an informal statement.
Royal Oak’s lodging rules include operational requirements
Chapter 394 is more than a simple registration rule. The current code includes requirements involving inspections, access and egress, building and property-maintenance compliance, clean linens, guest records, vehicle information, arrival and departure information, occupancy, daily housekeeping or inspection, emergency telephone access, and other operating standards. It also limits continuous and cumulative occupancy unless the establishment satisfies the referenced residential building classification.
Some of those provisions may not fit the way an owner imagines casually renting a loft for a weekend. That mismatch is another reason to obtain a written city determination before launching a listing.
The condominium documents can be more restrictive than the city
Even where the city would approve a transient-lodging use, the condominium association may prohibit it. A development’s recorded and adopted documents may regulate the sale, lease, license to use, or occupancy of condominium units. Common restrictions include:
- A complete prohibition on rentals or transient occupancy.
- A minimum lease term of 30 days, three months, six months, or one year.
- A requirement that the entire unit be rented rather than individual rooms.
- A rental cap or waiting list limiting the percentage of leased units.
- An owner-occupancy period before a unit becomes eligible to rent.
- Advance board notice, approval, registration, or lease review.
- A written-lease requirement and mandatory condominium addendum.
- Move deposits, elevator scheduling, parking registration, or access-device rules.
- Rules against commercial, hotel, vacation-rental, or business use.
- Fines, legal expenses, suspension of privileges, or court enforcement for violations.
Owners must review the complete, current package: master deed, bylaws, amendments, rules and regulations, leasing resolutions, board policies, and recent meeting minutes. A sentence in an old resale disclosure or a prior owner’s practice is not a substitute for the controlling documents.
Michigan law recognizes condominium leasing restrictions
Michigan’s Condominium Act allows condominium bylaws to include restrictions on the lease, license to use, or occupancy of units. In Highfield Beach at Lake Michigan v. Sanderson, the Michigan Court of Appeals addressed an association amendment that increased the minimum rental period and restricted future short-term rentals. The decision illustrates that an owner’s management contract or past rental practice does not necessarily protect future bookings from a properly adopted restriction.
The practical lesson is straightforward: do not buy or operate a Royal Oak loft based on the assumption that short-term rental rights are permanent. Documents can contain existing restrictions, and associations may adopt enforceable amendments subject to the Condominium Act and the governing documents.
Michigan law also requires advance disclosure to the association
MCL 559.212 requires a condominium co-owner who intends to rent or lease a unit to disclose that fact to the association in writing at least 10 days before presenting a lease or otherwise agreeing to grant possession to a prospective occupant. The owner must provide the exact lease for review. When no written lease is used, the statute requires information about the proposed occupants and arrangement.
A two-night digital booking is still an agreement granting another person possession or occupancy for compensation. Owners should not assume that calling the guest a “licensee,” “traveler,” or “platform user” avoids the Condominium Act or the condominium documents.
Does a 30- or 31-night minimum solve the problem?
Not automatically. A stay longer than 30 consecutive days may fall outside Royal Oak’s definition of a transient guest under Chapter 394, but several other restrictions may still apply:
- The condominium documents may require a six- or twelve-month lease.
- The association may cap rentals or require approval and registration.
- The city may require rental registration, inspection, or a certificate of compliance for residential leasing.
- Michigan landlord-tenant and security-deposit laws may apply.
- A guest who remains long enough may acquire tenant rights that cannot be ended by simply canceling a platform reservation.
- Insurance, mortgage, and tax treatment may change with the length and frequency of occupancy.
Changing the booking from 29 nights to 31 nights is not a universal workaround. The owner must verify every rule that applies to the intended arrangement.
Can an owner rent only a bedroom while remaining in the loft?
Owner-occupied hosting can still be restricted. Royal Oak’s bed-and-breakfast definition is tied to a use subordinate to a single-family dwelling, while many lofts are units in multiple-family or mixed-use buildings. The condominium documents may prohibit renting less than the entire unit, business use, transient guests, or recurring paid occupancy. Building access and security rules can also make room-by-room hosting incompatible with the development.
Ask the city and association about the exact owner-occupied proposal rather than assuming it is different enough to avoid the rules.
Can a tenant list a Royal Oak loft on Airbnb or Vrbo?
Usually only with clear written permission from the unit owner and compliance with the condominium documents and city requirements. Most residential leases prohibit assignment, subleasing, commercial use, or paid guests without consent. A tenant who lists the loft without permission may expose both the tenant and owner to lease termination, association fines, city enforcement, guest-removal problems, insurance denial, or property damage.
Taxes may apply to short stays
The Michigan Department of Treasury states that the state’s 6% use tax applies to rooms or lodging furnished to the public as a commercial business, while no tax is due under that lodging rule when the same room is rented continuously for more than one month to the same tenant. A platform may collect certain taxes in some transactions, but the host should verify what the platform collects, what remains the owner’s responsibility, and whether registration or returns are required.
Rental income can also create federal, state, and local income-tax reporting issues. An owner claiming a principal residence exemption, using depreciation, or mixing personal and rental use should obtain advice from a qualified tax professional.
Insurance and mortgage approval matter
A standard condominium owner policy may exclude or limit hotel-like, business, transient, or short-term-rental activity. The association’s master policy does not replace the owner’s coverage and may carry exclusions or deductibles that shift costs back to the unit owner. Obtain written confirmation from an insurance professional that the proposed use, liability, furnishings, loss of income, guest damage, and association deductible exposure are covered.
Mortgage documents can also restrict occupancy, business use, leasing, or transfers of possession. Owners should review the note, mortgage, rider, and lender requirements before operating a short-term rental.
Building operations can make short-term rentals impractical
Royal Oak loft developments vary widely. A high-rise with elevators, controlled access, a garage, package systems, and shared corridors faces different operational issues than a private-entry townhome-style loft. Before hosting, evaluate:
- Guest parking and overnight parking limits.
- Keys, fobs, garage remotes, elevators, and secure-entry procedures.
- Move-in, luggage, delivery, and loading rules.
- Noise, parties, smoking, pets, trash, and common-area conduct.
- Emergency access and the ability to reach a local responsible person.
- Guest understanding of fire alarms, exits, balconies, rooftop areas, and shared amenities.
- Cleaning, linen handling, inspections, maintenance, and damage response.
An owner remains responsible to the association for guest conduct even when the platform or a property manager arranged the booking.
Do not assume every Royal Oak development has the same rule
The Fifth, Main North Lofts, SkyLofts at Market Square, Sky Lofts, Station 3 Lofts, Metro Lofts, Main Street Lofts, Troy Street Lofts, Center Street Lofts, Parent Street Lofts, Grant Park Lofts, and Lofts @ 11 are separate condominium communities with their own recorded documents and board policies. A rental permitted in one building may be prohibited in another, and two owners in the same building can have different status under a cap, waiting list, grandfathering provision, or prior written lease.
Use the Royal Oak loft development directory to identify the building, then request the current documents for the exact property. LoftRoyalOak.com does not publish a building as “Airbnb approved” without current written confirmation because the designation can become outdated quickly.
A 15-step checklist before creating an Airbnb or Vrbo listing
- Identify the exact legal condominium development and unit.
- Obtain the current master deed, bylaws, amendments, rules, leasing policies, and recent minutes.
- Search for “lease,” “rent,” “license,” “occupancy,” “transient,” “hotel,” “business,” “minimum term,” and “short-term.”
- Ask the association or management company for a written statement of the current policy.
- Confirm whether a rental cap, waiting list, grandfathering rule, or owner-occupancy period applies.
- Contact Royal Oak Planning about zoning classification for the exact address and proposed stay length.
- Contact the City Clerk about the Chapter 394 license and plan-of-operation process.
- Confirm inspection, occupancy, egress, fire, parking, recordkeeping, and safety requirements.
- Provide the association notice and proposed lease or occupancy information required by MCL 559.212.
- Review mortgage and lender restrictions.
- Obtain written insurance approval for short-term-rental use.
- Confirm Michigan use-tax registration, collection, and filing responsibilities.
- Create written house rules consistent with the city and condominium documents.
- Establish local guest support, cleaning, maintenance, and emergency procedures.
- Do not publish or accept payment until every required approval is documented.
What are the alternatives if short-term rentals are prohibited?
An owner may still be able to use the loft as a primary or second residence, sell it, or offer a conventional lease that meets the association’s minimum term, rental cap, and approval rules. Some buildings may allow a furnished six- or twelve-month lease even when weekend or monthly rentals are prohibited. The correct alternative depends on the current documents, city requirements, mortgage, insurance, and the owner’s goals.
Official resources
- City of Royal Oak Chapter 394: Hotels, Boardinghouses, Bed-and-Breakfasts and Tourist Homes
- City of Royal Oak Zoning Ordinance information
- Michigan Condominium Act
- Highfield Beach at Lake Michigan v. Sanderson
- Michigan Department of Treasury lodging and use-tax guidance
Bottom line: A Royal Oak loft can be listed on Airbnb or Vrbo only when the exact use is permitted by the City of Royal Oak, the condominium documents, the unit’s lease and mortgage, and the owner’s insurance and tax arrangements. Verify first; list second.
For help locating a Royal Oak loft’s current listing information or evaluating its resale and conventional leasing considerations, contact James Balk at (248) 835-8621.