Local, full-service Airbnb, VRBO, and short-term rental management for homeowners in Lake Stevens — including the city's capped, permitted license program, and how to secure your spot in it.
Lake Stevens is one of the few cities here with a dedicated STR ordinance (LSMC 14.44.064): owners must occupy the home 240+ days a year unless it sits in the Urban Growth Area, there's a citywide 50-license cap, and the license runs $537 new. That means scarce, legal supply — valuable if your property qualifies. We check qualification first; the free property report starts that.
Lake Stevens is exactly what the name promises: the lake is the draw. Kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, and a year-round public swimming beach anchor summer demand, and the city backs it with 190+ acres of trails and parks — Lundeen Park, North Cove Park, and views of the Cascades from spots like Wyatt Park.
It's also one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Snohomish County, close enough to Boeing's Everett facility to pick up business and family travel beyond pure lake tourism, with the Lake Stevens Brewing Company and a small-town Main Street giving visitors somewhere to go after the water.
Yes — through a permitted, capped license program. The cap is the single most important thing to know before you plan around this city.
Under Ordinance 1139 (LSMC 14.44.064(b)(3)), Lake Stevens caps active short-term rental licenses at 50, citywide, at any one time — confirmed in both the ordinance text and the city's own STR FAQ. Before you get attached to a listing photo, know that the code doesn't create a waitlist, lottery, or queue for when the cap is full. It's simply silent on what happens once all 50 are issued. The city also doesn't publish a running count of how many of the 50 are currently active, so "is a license available right now" isn't a question anyone can answer from a website — ours or theirs.
What we do instead: call Planning and Community Development directly and get a real answer before an owner spends a dollar on furniture, insurance, or anything else. A related rule worth knowing either way — every licensed STR has to sit at least 150 feet from any other STR parcel, so even a technically-open slot isn't automatically open to a specific property.
Eleven separate requirements, condensed into six practical steps — nothing skipped.
Current as of the city's 2026 fee schedule — not the older figures still sitting on the city's own FAQ page.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| STR initial application | $537 | Type I land use application, paid at submittal |
| STR annual renewal | $126 | Due each year to keep the license active |
| General business license (origination) | $126 | Separate from the STR permit — required of every operator |
| General business license (annual renewal) | $26 | — |
| Home Occupation origination | $95 | If the STR is also licensed as a home occupation |
| Non-Resident origination | $42 | If gross annual income exceeds $4,000 and the operator lives outside city limits |
Dollar figures are set by City Council resolution, not the ordinance itself, and adjust each January using a 5-year average CPI-U — which is exactly why the city's own STR FAQ PDF (still showing $500/$100) has gone stale. We re-verify these every time we touch this page rather than trusting our own past write-up.
What the city actually does about violations, and exactly who to call.
Lake Stevens treats raucous noise, unruly gatherings, or anything else that violates the city's Noise Control or Nuisance Activity chapters as a public nuisance in its own right (LSMC 14.44.064(e)), enforceable under Title 17 LSMC. Operators are expected to respond to any complaint promptly and document the corrective action taken — slow-walking a response is, on its own, grounds for penalties.
Complaints and penalties run through the standard Ch. 4.04 and Title 17 LSMC code-enforcement process, including applicable fines — the city doesn't publish a specific fine schedule for STRs, so we won't invent one here. What it does say plainly: a revoked STR license isn't just gone for the year. The city won't issue that operator a new STR permit until a full year has passed, and a permit built on misrepresented or misleading information can be revoked outright.
Most complaints start in one of two places: the Code Enforcement Portal (account required) for general nuisance or code issues, or Lake Stevens Police's non-emergency line — 425-334-9537 — for a noise complaint in progress. Odor complaints go through 911 first, then the portal.
We deal with the city directly as part of onboarding, but here's the direct line if you'd rather ask yourself — including the one number nobody publishes: how many of the 50 licenses are currently issued.
Last reviewed July 2026, verified directly against Ordinance 1139's codified text and the city's current fee schedule. The city's own STR FAQ PDF still lists a $500 application fee and $100 annual renewal — those are the original 2022/2023 figures, at least one annual CPI-U adjustment cycle behind the city's own fee-resolution updates. $537/$126 are the numbers actually in effect as of this writing, and it's exactly the kind of stale-secondary-source gap we check for on every city page — including our own past write-ups. This is a summary of our research, not legal advice; we confirm current license availability and fees directly with the city as part of onboarding. Primary sources: Ordinance 1139, the City of Lake Stevens STR FAQ, the 2026 Land Use Fee Schedule Update, Council Resolution 2026-02, the STR Submittal and Renewal Checklist, WA DOR's Lake Stevens city endorsement page, and RCW 64.37, Washington's state short-term rental law.
Most Lake Stevens owners never find out what their home could earn on the short-term market — and with the summer lake demand, plenty is being left on the table. We won't invent a figure for you — get a free report with real comparable listings for your exact address.
We check license availability and prepare the Type I permit application with you at onboarding ($537 setup) — then run dynamic pricing, guest messaging, cleaner scheduling, and maintenance once you're live. The $126 annual renewal is yours to calendar; we'll refer a bookkeeper who tracks it.
Because licenses are capped, we'll always tell you plainly and quickly where things stand — not string you along if the program is full.
See exactly what's included →Get a free property report emailed to you — real comparable listings, current license availability, and what it'd take to get started. It's free, and we won't pressure you.
