Walton County orders registration or fines for multiple unlicensed short‑term rentals

A Walton County hearing officer on May 20, 2025 found owners of multiple unincorporated properties advertising short‑term vacation rentals in violation of the Walton County Land Development Code and ordered registrations or fines, county staff said.

The county required some owners to come into compliance within 48 hours (by May 23), gave others 30 days (to June 20) and granted one owner 45 days (to July 7). The hearing officer said properties that remain out of compliance after the deadline will face a $500 per day fine and a $100.62 administrative fee.

The finding and deadlines arose during a series of administrative hearings in which county manager Michael Lynch and Joshua Allen, the short‑term vacation rental coordinator in the planning department, presented evidence that advertised listings showed properties operating without the county certification required by Walton County Land Development Code 1.13.16(a). Lynch told the hearing officer, “All of the cases presented today involve properties in an unincorporated area of Walton County [that] are subject to land development code chapter 7 and other provisions of the land development code.”

Why this matters: the code requires a county short‑term vacation rental certificate and coordination with state and Tourist Development Council (TDC) registrations;…