Short Term Rental ApplicationS

Full Service, Flat Fee

Stow Firm offers full-service preparation service for your NSTR application for a flat fee of $1,500.

This flat fee includes:

• Access to short term rental attorney Christopher Stow-Serge for specific questions about your property;
• An architect or other design professional to conduct an on-site assessment of your property (This will enable them to create the floor plan, evacuation plan, and site plan including parking arrangements, in accordance with new regulations.); 
• Extensive public record research to anticipate and take steps to resolve any impediments to your application; and
• Thorough preparation of your full application.

Please note, our flat fee does not include the City's $50 application fee, $150 NSTR Operator permit fee, or $500 NSTR permit. 

By the hour

If you are an experienced real estate professional in the Short Term Rental field, and require a review of your application or other limited assistance, an hourly billing model may be more suitable. Our hourly rate is $375.

At the Stow Firm, we've dedicated significant effort and resources to understand the new laws and their interpretations. Moreover, we are constantly monitoring the evolving interpretations of these laws by the Short Term Rental Administration, the City Planning Commission, and the Department of Safety and Permits.

Our deep understanding has enabled us to develop a clear, 7-step process that maximizes our clients' chances of securing approval for their Non-Commercial Short Term Rental (NSTR) application.

You can prepare and submit your NSTR application on your own, but doing so accurately requires considerable work.

If you choose to submit an application independently, here are some materials you should study, though this list is not exhaustive:

1. The 788-line amendment to the Code of the City of New Orleans (Cal. No. 34,082 (March 2, 2023));
2. The 24-page amendment to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (Cal. No. 34,083 (March 2, 2023));
3. The 47-page PowerPoint presentation from the Short Term Rental Administration entitled "Non-Commercial Short-Term Rental Administration Application Training" (obtain the most recent version);
4. All 75 items on the NSTR Application Review Master Checklist;
5. DSP Rule 23-01;
6. Answers to questions provided by the Short Term Rental Administration after the end of at least one training class;
7. Property tax records for your property;
8. Zoning Maps of the City of New Orleans;
9. Records of city permits and outstanding open permits from you or previous owners, and any outstanding judgments and fees (available at OneStop.nola.gov);
10. New Orleans Assessor records regarding your property;
11. Updated New Orleans data concerning Bed and Breakfasts on your square block;
12. Announcements from the Short Term Rental Administration;
13. Any new Interim Zoning Districts and/or ordinances from the City Council.
14. The Eastern District's recent ruling allowing trust beneficiaries and usufructaries to obtain NSTR permits.

You still have options. First, the Stow Firm can verify the status of the application and determine if a permit was actually issued. If it was, you still need to submit a NSTR application so that you can start the exception process, asking permission to exceed the one per square block density limit. 

The lottery is only held for square blocks where there are multiple applicants trying to get a NSTR permit. 

Each square block is assigned a five digit lottery ID number and every individual applicant in the lottery is given a reference code and a corresponding bingo ball number. During the lottery, the square block lottery ID number is announced, the reference codes and corresponding ball numbers are displayed, and the balls are tossed in the cage. Balls are selected in order, with a first place, second place, third place and so on and announced.