Corpus Christi weighs changes to short-term rental rules

Key Takeaways

Corpus Christi City Council will consider changes to its short-term rental rules on Tuesday, Aug. 25
The proposal would change how owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied short-term rentals are defined
The city’s existing permit requirements, density limits and Padre and Mustang Island restrictions would remain in place

Corpus Christi will be taking a closer look at its short-term rental rules today, with a proposed change that could possibly affect which properties qualify as owner-occupied rentals.

The Texas Gulf Coast city’s council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and first vote Tuesday, Aug. 25, on an ordinance that would rewrite the definitions of Type 1 and Type 2 short-term rentals, according to official city records.

The biggest change involves Type 1 rentals, the category Corpus Christi uses for owner-occupied properties.

Under the proposal, a single-family home would qualify as a Type 1 short-term rental when the owner listed in property records occupies the home and has a homestead exemption on it. Accessory dwelling units could also qualify when the owner has a homestead exemption and lives in either the primary home or the accessory unit.

Multifamily properties would work a little differently. A unit could still qualify as Type 1 when it is occupied by the owner or by an operator with a valid lease and the property owner’s permission.

Properties that don’t meet those requirements would fall into the city’s Type 2 category for non-owner-occupied short-term rentals.

In an agenda memo shared ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, the town’s Interim Director of Development Services, Yvette Wallace, told City Manager Peter Zanoni that the 2022 regulations “aimed to support neighborhood stability, reduce nuisances associated with investor-driven STRs, and ensure that owner-occupied rentals remained tied to the owner’s legal residence.”

The new proposal will remove “the broader residency criteria found in the old definition (such as voter registration or vehicle registration), ensuring that owner-occupied STRs are limited to bona fide homestead properties,” Wallace said.

“The prior definition allowed an operator to claim owner-occupied status simply by residing on the property under a lease and providing proof of residency with a driver’s license or voters registration, which created enforcement challenges and allowed
investor-owned properties in single-family neighborhoods to operate as Type 1 STRs without being true homesteads. The new definition removes this ambiguity in single-family contexts by tying Type 1 eligibility directly to owner occupancy and a
homestead exemption,” she continued.

It will also avoid the “complicated residency tests” previously used to prohibit Type 2 operations in single family zones,” she concluded.

Corpus Christi already limits where some short-term rentals can operate

The proposed changes would land on top of a regulatory system Corpus Christi has had in place since 2022.

The city currently requires short-term rental operators to register their properties and obtain a permit. Type 1 rentals are generally allowed throughout Corpus Christi, while Type 2 rentals are limited to 15 percent of a block face, according to the city’s short-term rental guidelines.

Report: Texas and Indiana thrive on STR preemption laws while California, Hawaii lag — © 2026 REWire Media LLC. All rights reserved.

There is one major geographic exception. Short-term rentals are not permitted in single-family zoning districts within the Padre and Mustang Island Area Development Plan.

Hosts must also provide contact information, a floor plan showing sleeping areas and evacuation routes, proof of required safety measures and other information when applying for a permit. Corpus Christi also requires short-term rental operators to submit hotel occupancy taxes.

The market remains a sizable part of Corpus Christi’s tourism economy.

AirDNA counted 3,047 active short-term rental listings in the city as of July, with an average annual revenue of about $23,100 per listing.

Tuesday’s vote is only the first reading of the proposed ordinance. If approved, the changes would still need to complete the city’s legislative process before taking effect.

The proposal does not eliminate short-term rentals or replace Corpus Christi’s broader regulatory system. Instead, it narrows the question of who qualifies for the owner-occupied category and who must operate under the rules for non-owner-occupied rentals.