What managing a Franklin rental involves
The service we offer is the same wherever the property is: listing and channel strategy, guest communication, housekeeping, maintenance oversight, revenue management, and owner reporting, under one flat, transparent fee. You can see what that includes on our short-term rental management page.
What changes city to city is what the local ordinance requires of the property and of whoever operates it. Franklin asks for a responsible party located within twenty-five miles who answers calls around the clock for the duration of every rental, an application to Building and Neighborhood Services renewed every 365 days, liability coverage presented annually, and specific postings inside the unit. Compliance with the Municipal Code and Zoning Ordinance rests with the property owner, and those obligations are part of what a management arrangement has to account for.
The sections below set out what Franklin requires and which properties are eligible.
What Franklin requires of a short-term rental
Franklin's requirements sit in two places. The Municipal Code governs how a rental operates; the Zoning Ordinance governs where the use is allowed. Both apply.
Before operating or advertising a short-term vacation rental, the owner must make the required application to Building and Neighborhood Services to update the certificate of use and occupancy. Operation remains subject to the city's approval requirements. The application repeats every 365 days.
Operating conditions include a responsible party — a person or business — located within twenty-five miles, whose name and telephone number are posted inside the unit and who answers calls twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the duration of each rental; liability coverage of at least one million dollars per occurrence, presented annually; smoke alarms meeting UL 217 standards in all sleeping areas, along the egress path, and on every story; a posted occupancy maximum, not exceeding ten; no signage indicating the use; no food prepared or served by the owner or responsible party; a minimum stay of twenty-four hours and a maximum of twenty-one consecutive days; and a principal renter at least twenty-one years of age.
Dwelling units with more than four sleeping rooms fall outside the ordinance's definition of a short-term vacation rental.
Under §13-203 the owner remains responsible for the rental's compliance with the Municipal Code, the Zoning Ordinance and adopted construction codes.
Where the use is allowed, and on what terms
Franklin does not apply one rule citywide. The zoning ordinance's use table sorts districts into those where short-term vacation rentals are permitted, those where they are permitted subject to the additional use regulations of §5.1.4, and those where the use is not permitted at all.
Where those additional use regulations apply, §5.1.4.W attaches four conditions: one short-term vacation rental per lot; the owner of the lot is a permanent occupant of the premises; on a lot with both a dwelling and an accessory dwelling, the owner may live in one and rent the other as a short-term vacation rental; and on a lot with a dwelling and no accessory dwelling, the owner may rent it only where nightly rentals do not exceed 113 nights in any rolling twelve-month period and the owner vacates for the duration.
The 113-night restriction sits in §5.1.4.W(4), which governs a lot without an accessory dwelling. It does not expressly apply to the separate accessory-dwelling arrangement in §5.1.4.W(3) — but other applicable restrictions still need to be checked for any specific property.
"Permanent occupant" is defined under 'single-family residential' in Chapter 23 of the ordinance. The city's published FAQ identifies the documentation it looks to, including occupancy of more than twenty-one days a month on average across a twelve-month period, voter registration at the address, mail received there, a vehicle registered or driver's license issued there, and school registration where applicable.
Which district a property sits in therefore decides the question before anything else does. Check the city's zoning map and confirm with Building and Neighborhood Services.
Zoning is not the last word, though. Private covenants sit on top of it, and they can prohibit short-term rentals in a subdivision the city would otherwise permit. Franklin's own short-term vacation rental checklist puts that duty on the property owner: it is the requirement of all owner-occupants to verify the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of their HOA rules on short-term vacation rentals. Before buying or listing a property in Franklin, check the city zoning map and your specific neighborhood's HOA covenants. A city permit does not override a restrictive covenant.
Grandfathered properties, and what a sale does to them
Under §2.2.4, the use regulations do not apply to property that was legally established and issued a permit as a short-term vacation rental, as defined by T.C.A. § 13-7-602, before the effective date of the ordinance — until that grandfathering terminates.
Termination events are set out in §2.2.4.B, in accordance with T.C.A. § 13-7-603: the property is sold; it is transferred; it ceases being used as a short-term vacation rental for thirty continuous months; or it has been in violation of generally applicable local laws three or more separate times, as provided by T.C.A. § 13-7-604. Under §2.2.4.C, a change of ownership to a family member — by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption — preserves the protection.
Two things follow for owners. Grandfathering may terminate after three or more qualifying violations as specified in §2.2.4.B and the referenced Tennessee statute; complaints and established violations are not the same thing, and the distinction matters. And if you are considering buying a Franklin home that currently operates as a short-term rental, an ordinary sale is a terminating event — the permit does not simply carry across to a new owner. How that applies to transactions structured other than as an ordinary sale is not something this page can answer, and it is worth asking a Tennessee attorney.
A regulated market, not an open one
Franklin is the seat of Williamson County, south of Nashville, and its short-term rental rules impose property-specific eligibility conditions.
In the districts that carry additional use regulations, §5.1.4.W of the zoning ordinance imposes four conditions: one short-term vacation rental per lot; the owner of the lot must be a permanent occupant of the premises; on a lot with both a dwelling and an accessory dwelling, the owner may live in one and rent the other; and on a lot with a dwelling and no accessory dwelling, nightly rentals may not exceed 113 nights in any rolling twelve-month period, with the owner vacating for the duration.
Homes legally established and permitted before the current ordinance took effect continue under the earlier rules. That protection ends on sale or transfer to anyone outside the owner's family, among other terminating events.
What this means practically is that Franklin eligibility turns on the specific property and the specific owner. The district, the ownership and occupancy arrangement, and the permit history all bear on it, and none can be assumed from the address alone.
Before you rely on any of this
Franklin's short-term rental rules come from the City of Franklin Municipal Code (Title 13, Chapter 2) and the Franklin Zoning Ordinance (§5.1.4.W and §2.2.4), and they change. Whether a specific property qualifies depends on its zoning district, its ownership and occupancy arrangement, its permit history, and any private covenants that apply to it. Verify your address against the city's zoning map and confirm with Building and Neighborhood Services at 615-550-6738 before making any decision. This page is general information about the Franklin market, not legal advice, and it is not a representation that any particular property is eligible.
