How to report an illegal Airbnb in Nashville

Every STRP complaint goes through hubNashville, and every complaint becomes a record Metro Codes has to work. One report rarely kills a listing. A documented pattern does. Here's the playbook.

1. Confirm it's actually a short-term rental

Find the listing on Airbnb or VRBO and screenshot everything: the address or approximate location pin, the photos, the reviews, the "entire home" tag, the guest count. Listings get edited and deleted — your screenshots are the evidence.

2. Check whether it can legally exist

Two questions. Is the address in a residential zone (R, RS, RM, AR2A)? Then no new investor permit could have been issued there — only a legacy permit or an owner-occupied one. Does the listing show a Metro STRP permit number? No number is a red flag. Metro publishes permit records; ask Metro Codes ([email protected]) to confirm whether an address holds a valid permit if the listing doesn't say.

3. File the complaint with hubNashville

Report it online at hubNashville or call 311 (615-862-5000). Pick the short-term rental property violation category, attach what you have, and be specific: "operating as a short-term rental without a valid STRP permit in a residential zone" beats "the Airbnb is annoying." Keep the case number.

Unpermitted operation → STRP violation complaint.
Noise, parking, trash, party-house incident → nuisance complaint, same channel.
Active party right now → MNPD non-emergency: 615-862-8600.

File a new complaint for each incident. Every Saturday-night party is a separate record. One neighbor with a folder of case numbers is more useful to Codes than ten neighbors who each complained once.

4. Escalate past the complaint

Email your district council member with the address and your case numbers — they're the ones who vote on STRP bills, and "constituents keep filing complaints about this address" is what moves them. Bring it to your neighborhood association meeting. A pattern of complaints is also what Metro uses at renewal time and what the STRP Appeals Board sees on appeal.

Got a specific listing in your sights?

Paste it below. We'll check whether it shows a permit number and write the complaint for you — you file it.

Airbnb or VRBO listing URL

Where it is (street or neighborhood) What's happening there (optional)

Your complaint — paste this into hubNashville

Open hubNashville → Email your council member →

File it under the short-term rental violation category. Keep your case number — you want a paper trail.

One rule for all of this

Don't exaggerate and don't file complaints about things that didn't happen. Tennessee law treats a false STRP complaint as perjury (TCA §39-16-702), and Metro is required to tell you that on the complaint form. The truth is usually bad enough — a fake complaint only gives the operator a defense.

Source: Metro Codes — file a STRP complaint. Background: how Nashville's STRP rules work.