Short-term rentals in Mexico City: host registry rules

What counts as a temporary tourist stay

Article 3 of the law defines the Estancia Turística Eventual as a “servicio de estancia temporal en inmuebles de uso habitacional a cambio de una contraprestación”. A host (anfitrión) is the person who offers it. A plataforma tecnológica is the digital application, website or social network through which it is offered. The law does not turn a monthly or yearly home lease into a tourist stay: those are governed by the civil code, see renting a home in Mexico City. The text read gives no number of nights or days that separates the two; I did not find a definition by duration, so a lawyer should confirm where your arrangement falls.

The host’s duties (art. 61 Ter)

A host must:

• register in the Padrón de Anfitriones and register each property;
• give tourists clear information on the property’s features, prices and rules of use;
• display, in a visible place in the property, the city’s emergency numbers, contact numbers for the host or a representative, and the certificate and folio issued by the secretariat;
• report to the secretariat, in January and July of each year, the number of times the property was occupied and the nights occupied; false or missing reports are grounds for removal from the register;
• provide safe and hygienic facilities, and meet civil protection requirements;
• inform the immediate neighbours of the tourist use and give them contact numbers for complaints or emergencies;
• meet tax obligations, register a phone number and e-mail for complaints, and protect tourists’ personal data.

How a host registers (art. 61 Quinquies and 61 Sexies)

To enter the register the host must present, among other items:

• the name or company name and nationality;
• an official ID with address, or a sworn statement that the host lives at the property where rooms are offered;
• the document proving ownership, administration or possession of each property;
• the taxpayer registration (RFC) and the constancia de situación fiscal;
• certificates of no debt for predial (property tax) and water for each property;
• proof of address of the property;
• the platform(s) used;
• a sworn statement on safety and civil protection;
• for a condominium, proof of notice to the owners’ general assembly;
• an insurance document for civil liability, “cuando cuente con éste” (when the host has one).

For each property the secretariat issues a certificate and a folio, which must be entered on each platform where the property is offered. The registration lasts one year and must be renewed within the 30 calendar days before it expires (art. 61 Sexies). The foreign status of a host does not appear as a bar in the text; “nacionalidad” is simply one of the data items.

More than three properties

Hosts who register more than three properties must, from the fourth property, also give the business-establishment code assigned by the city’s electronic system for notices and permits of commercial establishments, and the operating notice or permit under the Ley de Establecimientos Mercantiles. The secretariat may remove from the register the fourth and later properties whose notice is not valid or whose land use does not allow the activity. A host who lives in the property where rooms are offered, if it is a house or flat, is exempt from the limit on the number of rooms (art. 61 Sexies).

Platforms (art. 61 Quáter and 61 Septies)

Platforms, whether Mexican or foreign, must enter the Padrón de Plataformas Tecnológicas (valid for two years, renewed 30 days before expiry), require hosts to supply the certificate and folio as a condition to list a property, show the folio on each listing, report to the secretariat in January and July the occupancy and complaints, and comply with tax duties. Platforms and intermediaries are also joint obligors (“obligados solidarios”) with hosts for the lodging tax (Impuesto sobre Hospedaje) and for penalties linked to stays booked through them, according to the definitions article of the law.

When it applied

The reform’s transitional provisions gave the secretariat and the city’s digital agency 180 calendar days from publication to develop the electronic systems; platforms then had 30 days to register, and hosts 90 days (articles transitional 4, 5 and 6). The text I read does not say when the systems opened. Another point I looked for and did not find in the text of the law is a cap on the nights per year for a property; if you have heard of one, it would have to be in a regulation or other instrument I did not read, so ask the secretariat.

Taxes and condominium rules

The law only refers to “obligaciones en materia fiscal” and to the city’s Código Fiscal. Federal taxes on platform income are covered in short-term rental platform taxes. A condominium’s own rules may restrict short stays; the law asks for proof of notice to the assembly but the text read does not itself authorise the stays against the condominium’s rules.

Which professional to consult

A real estate lawyer (real estate lawyer) can tell you how the registry applies to your property. An accountant can advise on income tax and VAT; that falls outside this guide.