In May 2026, Scottsdale police responded to 48 nuisance calls and issued 56 citations at short-term rental properties, a single month's tally that Mayor Lisa Borowsky later called a breaking point. The incident that pushed the city council to act was a shooting at a party rental inside the Maya complex in Old Town, which ended in arrests on aggravated assault and weapons charges. On June 23, 2026, the council voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance No. 4719, closing a legal gap that had let some short-term rentals operate less like guest houses and more like commercial event venues. It took effect July 23, 2026.
If you're weighing an Old Town Scottsdale condo or home with rental income in mind, that ordinance matters. But it isn't the rule that will actually decide what you can do with your address. That decision was already made, years ago in most cases, in a document you won't see until you're deep into due diligence: your building's CC&Rs.
What Ordinance 4719 Actually Changes
Arizona state law has protected short-term rentals from outright city bans since Senate Bill 1350 passed in 2016. Cities can license, tax, and regulate conduct, but they can't prohibit the use itself. What they couldn't previously do with much precision was define what counts as a prohibited "event center," even though state law already barred using a vacation rental as one. Ordinance 4719 fills that gap. It defines an event center as any property used for organized gatherings tied to a commercial purpose: weddings, receptions, banquets, corporate events, promotional parties, anything advertised or ticketed. City Attorney Luis Santaella told the council the definition would give police and code enforcement clearer footing to act. Ordinary residential gatherings, a family birthday or a holiday dinner, are explicitly exempt.
This sits on top of the licensing framework Scottsdale built under Ordinance 4566, which is still the baseline for anyone operating a legal short-term rental in the city. That baseline requires an annual $250 city license, at least $500,000 in liability insurance, a designated 24/7 emergency contact, notification to neighbors within 30 days of the license being issued, and an occupancy cap of six adults plus dependent children. Operating without a license draws a $1,000 penalty for every 30-day period you go unlicensed.
The practical effect of 4719 is narrower than it sounds but still worth pausing on if you're underwriting a purchase. A large investment home with a resort-style backyard has long looked like an obvious Scottsdale play, partly because owners could supplement nightly rates with the occasional wedding or corporate buyout. That model is now explicitly off the table inside city limits. If your return projections for an Old Town or greater Scottsdale property assumed event revenue stacked on top of nightly bookings, that assumption needs to come out of the spreadsheet.
The Rule That Was Already Stricter Than the City's
Here is the part that catches buyers off guard more often than the ordinance does: state preemption protects you from a city ban, but it offers no protection at all against a private HOA covenant. An HOA is a contract between owners, not a government body, so the statute that stops Scottsdale from banning short-term rentals simply doesn't reach a condo association's CC&Rs. If a building's governing documents prohibit rentals under 30 days, or cap the percentage of units that can operate as rentals at any one time, that restriction holds regardless of what the city ordinance allows.
Old Town's condo stock spans both ends of this spectrum, sometimes within a few blocks of each other. Buildings like Optima Camelview Village, Envy, Edge, Inspire, and the newer W Residences carry HOA covenants that further restrict rental terms beyond what the city requires. Other buildings market themselves specifically on rental flexibility. Casa Feliz, a few blocks from Scottsdale Fashion Square off the Arizona Canal Trail, allows short-term rentals and is positioned as an investor favorite. Sienna, near Indian Bend and Scottsdale Road, does the same. Two buildings, similar price points, opposite rulebooks, and nothing in the city's ordinance tells you which one you're looking at.
None of that variation shows up in a city ordinance search. It shows up in a document package that most buyers don't request until after they've fallen for a unit.
What This Means If You're Buying for Rental Income
The sequence that protects you is simple, but it only works if you follow it in order rather than backward from a listing you already love.
Before you write an offer on any Old Town Scottsdale condo with rental income in the plan, request the current CC&Rs, bylaws, and any recent HOA rule amendments, not just the resale disclosure summary. Confirm whether the building currently allows short-term rentals or caps how many units can operate as one, and if there's a cap, ask whether it's already been reached. A building can technically permit short-term rentals on paper while functionally being full. Ask whether the association has adopted or is considering any amendment restricting rental terms, since HOAs across the Scottsdale area have moved toward tighter rental rules in recent years and a vote already scheduled could change your plans before you close.
Separate from the building question, treat the city and state paperwork as its own track. You'll need the Scottsdale STR license under Ordinance 4566, a Transaction Privilege Tax license from the Arizona Department of Revenue, and registration with Maricopa County. None of those licenses substitute for HOA approval, and getting them in order does nothing to change what your building's covenants allow.
If your investment model depends on hosting weddings, corporate retreats, or any gathering with a commercial purpose attached, rebuild it around nightly and short-stay guest income only. That revenue stream is now closed inside Scottsdale city limits under Ordinance 4719, and enforcement is complaint-driven, which means a single neighbor report can trigger a review.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Does a Scottsdale short-term rental license override my HOA's rules? No. The city license and the HOA's governing documents operate independently. A property can be fully licensed under Ordinance 4566 and still be prohibited from short-term rental use entirely by its own CC&Rs.
Can an HOA in Old Town Scottsdale ban short-term rentals outright? Yes, if the prohibition exists in the original CC&Rs or was properly adopted through a valid amendment process. Not every attempted amendment holds up under Arizona law, which is one more reason to review the actual documents rather than assume based on what a listing agent tells you.
What changed on July 23, 2026 specifically? That's the effective date of Ordinance 4719, which formally defines "event center" and gives Scottsdale police and code enforcement a clearer standard for shutting down short-term rentals used for weddings, corporate events, and ticketed parties. Ordinary residential gatherings are not affected.
Buying a rental-ready property in Old Town Scottsdale is still very much possible, and the city's new ordinance mostly clarifies rules that responsible operators were already following. But the address that actually determines your options is the one written into your building's governing documents, not the one written into city code. Get that document before you get attached to the unit.
If you're evaluating an Old Town Scottsdale property with rental income in mind and want a read on the building, the HOA, and the numbers before you write an offer, Preston Matchett can walk through it with you. Schedule a free consultation to start with the right questions in the right order.
