Truro, Mass., Gen. Bylaws ch. 2 § 1 (eff. June 2, 2025) § 2-1-3

Prohibitions

In Force
Verified 11/11/2026 · Next check 12/11/2026
effective 6/2/2025TruroRegistration & Permitting

Operative Text

Truro, Mass., Gen. Bylaws ch. 2 § 1 (eff. June 2, 2025) § 2-1-3
2-1-3-1 Registration Requirement. No dwelling unit or part thereof may be
      offered as a Short-Term Rental within the Town of Truro unless it is
      registered with the Select Board and in compliance with regulations issued by
      the Board of Health and is registered with the Commonwealth of
      Massachusetts Department of Revenue in accordance with applicable laws.

      2-1-3-2 Limitation on Number of Short-Term Rentals.
      An Owner may register to operate only two dwelling units as Short-Term
      Rentals. If a person owns or is listed as a manager and/or is an agent for three
      or more dwelling units, that person must choose only two units to be
      registered as Short-Term Rentals. No person shall have more than two legal or
      equitable title or beneficial interest in dwelling units used for Short-Term
      Rentals except as provided for above. An Owner may hire a property
      management company to list and manage Short-Term Rentals, but the
      registration must be in the Owner’s name.                         (May/2024, [eff
      6/2/2025])

      2-1-3-3 Corporate Ownership. Short-Term Rentals are prohibited in dwelling
      units owned by a Corporation. Short-Term Rentals are permitted in dwelling
      units owned by an LLC, Trust, or S Corporation only when every shareholder,
      partner, or member of the legal entity is a natural person, as established by
      documentation provided by the applicant at the time of registration.

      2-1-3-4 Affordable Housing Dwelling Units. Short-Term Rentals are
      prohibited in dwelling units designated as affordable or otherwise income-
      restricted, which are subject to an affordability restriction or are otherwise
      subject to housing or rental assistance under local, state, or federal programs
      or law.

      2-1-3-5 Time Share, Fractional and Interval Ownership Units. No Fractional
       Ownership, Interval or Time Share unit may engage in Short-Term Rental
       activities or be eligible to receive a Certificate of registration for such unit;
       except that this section shall not apply to the creation of mortgages, liens,
       easements or other similar interests encumbering the residential property as a
       whole to secure a loan or for any other legitimate purposes; and this section
        shall not apply to non-commercial groups, such as families, partnerships,
        associations, or trusts with divided interests or agreements in which the real
        estate is held and transferred within the family, partnership, association or
        trust, as opposed to sold in fractional or divided interests on the open market.

       2-1-3-6 Protection for Existing Short-Term Rentals. Any person or other legal
        entity who holds a current Certificate of Registration on the effective date of
        this bylaw may continue to engage in Short-Term Rentals in accordance with
        the existing Certificate of Registration, until the dwelling unit is transferred
        or conveyed, or the certificate of registration is not renewed. If a property is
        bequeathed to a person or other beneficiary through a will, the new owner
        may continue to engage in Short-Term Rental activities in accordance with
        this section.
Source: Legislative text reproduced verbatim
Plain English

Truro, Mass., Gen. Bylaws ch. 2 § 1 — Short-Term Rental § 2-1-3 establishes a set of prohibitions and conditions governing which dwelling units may legally operate as short-term rentals in Truro. No unit may be offered as a short-term rental without dual registration — with the town's Select Board and with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue — and compliance with Board of Health regulations. The bylaw caps individual ownership at two registered short-term rental units, bans corporate-owned units and affordable/income-restricted housing from the program, and excludes fractional or timeshare ownership arrangements, while providing limited grandfathering protections for holders of existing certificates.

Written by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6 · Reviewed on November 11, 2026

Plain English — not legal advice.

For Property Managers

Under § 2-1-3, property owners operating or seeking to operate short-term rentals in Truro generally maintain registrations with both the Select Board and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and keep their units in compliance with Board of Health rules. Compliant operators hold registrations in their own name — not a management company's name — and limit their short-term rental portfolio to no more than two dwelling units, regardless of how ownership or management is structured. Owners whose units are held through an LLC, Trust, or S Corporation typically document that every member or shareholder is a natural person at the time of registration, and owners of affordable or income-restricted units should be aware those units are categorically ineligible under § 2-1-3-4.

General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.

For Tenants

Section § 2-1-3 of Truro's short-term rental bylaw creates protections that are relevant to tenants and community members, particularly those in affordable or income-restricted housing: such units are expressly prohibited from being used as short-term rentals under § 2-1-3-4, which may be a basis for raising a concern if a landlord appears to be doing so. Tenants who believe a unit is being offered as an unregistered or otherwise non-compliant short-term rental may consider contacting the Truro Select Board or Board of Health, which are the bodies named in § 2-1-3-1 as responsible for registration and compliance. Tenant-rights organizations familiar with Massachusetts housing law can help individuals understand how these prohibitions may intersect with their own housing situation.

General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.

Generated November 11, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.

Effective Timeline

Current
Jun 2, 2025
Click on timeline segments to view historical versions.

References Out

No outbound references recorded yet for this provision.

References In

No inbound references recorded yet for this provision.

Related Rules

§ 244.1045
License required
§ 7-253
Requirements for the operation of short-term rentals
§ 7-254
Registration

Source Information

Snapshot SHA:
Fetched:Nov 11, 2026, 03:30 AM UTC