FAQ & how this works

Per the City of Savannah, short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) are permitted within the STVR overlay district — the Downtown, Victorian, and Streetcar local historic districts — and in certain non-residential zones outside it. The City defines an STVR as renting an entire dwelling unit for 30 days or less, and a certificate from the City is required before operating. Confirm eligibility for any specific address with the City of Savannah.

It's the authorization the City of Savannah issues once a property meets the ordinance's zoning and application requirements — the terms "STVR certificate," "permit," and "license" are used interchangeably for it. Per the City, a certificate must be obtained before a property is operated as a short-term rental, and it's valid for one year. Confirm the requirements with the City of Savannah.

The City distinguishes Owner-occupied (Type 1) — where the owner's primary residence is on the parcel — from Non-owner-occupied (Type 2), an investor-style whole-unit rental. It matters because the ward's 20% cap applies only to non-owner-occupied (Type 2) parcels; owner-occupied (Type 1) parcels are exempt from the cap. Confirm how a specific parcel is classified with the City of Savannah.

Per the City, a certificate does not transfer with a sale, so a seller's certificate does not carry over to you. The ordinance provides that when title transfers on a parcel with a pre-existing certificate, a new application from the buyer will not be denied on the grounds of the ward's cap if it's filed within six months of the title transfer. Whether that window applies to a specific parcel depends on the parcel's certificate history, which only the City can confirm — verify the certificate's status and your eligibility with the City of Savannah before relying on it.

Because the ward cap makes new non-owner-occupied (Type 2) certificates scarce, buyers often look for a parcel that already holds a pre-existing certificate, so they can apply within the six-month post-sale window. CertScout's Landscape and — for subscribers — the Opportunity Radar surface parcels that currently hold a non-owner-occupied (Type 2) certificate on the City's published list, and flag those approaching a renewal decision. CertScout reflects the City's published list and does not assert grandfathered status for any specific parcel — confirm a parcel's certificate history and cap protection with the City of Savannah.

Per the City, any owner wishing to apply for a non-owner-occupied (Type 2) certificate in a ward that has reached its 20% cap should submit the City's STVR Waiting List Form; the list is maintained first-come, first-served, and the City contacts an applicant when an opening in that ward occurs. The City does not publish a guaranteed wait time, and openings depend on existing certificates leaving the list. Confirm the current waitlist process with the City of Savannah.

The City of Savannah charges an application fee and an annual renewal fee, and a separate Zoning Confirmation Letter fee for a binding zoning answer. Fees change, so check the current amounts on the City's STVR page. Applications and renewals are handled through the City's registration portal.

Per the City ordinance (Sec. 7.5.4), STVRs on TN-2-zoned parcels in the Streetcar (formerly Mid-City) local historic district must have two or more dwelling units, one of which must be owner-occupied. Confirm the rules for a specific parcel with the City of Savannah.

CertScout pulls the City of Savannah's public STVR list nightly. The city republishes the list roughly daily, so what you see reflects the most recent published pull — not necessarily this morning's list. The exact pull timestamp shows in the footer of every page.

Recorded sale data comes from the public SAGIS parcel layer, which republishes in irregular bulk updates rather than continuously — in practice, a recent sale can take weeks to months to appear. The city also receives no notification when a property sells; it relies on the new owner voluntarily filing paperwork if they want to keep the certificate. Treat the recorded sale as the last known record, not a same-day answer.

These come from SAGIS as the assessor's estimated joined fields — generally right, occasionally stale at parcel edges or where a parcel straddles two districts. For a binding answer on any specific parcel, the city's $50 Zoning Confirmation Letter is the record that governs.

The ward's 20% cap is measured at the moment of any new application, so a parcel's current status on the City's published list is what matters for that math — which is why CertScout tries to reflect the city's list honestly, lag and all. Keep in mind the published list shows current status only: a certificate can be absent for administrative reasons without having lapsed, so treat list status as a starting point and confirm anything that matters with the City of Savannah.

For an address, it pulls the parcel record and reports jurisdiction (City vs. county), STVR overlay membership, the ward and its cap status, zoning, flood zone, an inferred owner-occupancy flag, and whether an active STVR certificate is already on file.

The top of every result shows a seal stating the overall finding:

• Certificate On File (green) — the property already has an active STVR certificate.
• Likely — owner-occupied / ward open / by zoning (green) — the property looks eligible for a new certificate along that path, pending city confirmation.
• Waitlist Only (gold) — the ward has hit its 20% cap for non-owner-occupied STVRs; new certificates are first-come, first-served off a waitlist.
• Overlay — verify ward / County / Other (gold) — screening is incomplete or the parcel falls outside City of Savannah jurisdiction; check the noted contact.
• Not Eligible (oxblood/dark red) — outside both the STVR overlay and any zoning exception; new STVRs generally can't be certified here.

When a certificate is on file, it's also tagged Owner-occupied (Type 1), exempt from the ward cap, or Non-owner-occupied (Type 2), which counts against it.

On the Opportunity Radar, a stoplight color tracks two different countdowns, since the renewal window opens before the listed expiration date:

• Renewal deadline (due 30 days before expiration): black/neutral if more than 15 days out, gold at 15 days or fewer, oxblood at 7 days or fewer.
• Expiration: black/neutral if more than 30 days out, amber at 30 days or fewer, deep red at 7 days or fewer.

The "Not on list" tab uses a plain NOT ON LIST tag instead — those certificates have already left the city's published list, so it's a confirmed event rather than a countdown.

No. This is a screening estimate, not a determination. The binding answer is the city's $50 Zoning Confirmation Letter. Use CertScout to decide whether that letter is worth requesting.

No. The City of Savannah has not reviewed, contributed to, or endorsed CertScout or its reports. Everything here is CertScout's own analysis of the City's published STVR list — it is not official City data and does not reflect application or processing status. Confirm anything that matters with the City of Savannah.

It's inferred by comparing the owner's mailing address to the property address. The 20% cap only applies to non-owner-occupied parcels, so this flag can flip the result — treat it as a guess, not proof.

It's just a demo shortcut: it pre-fills the search box with that street name and runs the normal address search, returning the first matches sorted alphabetically. It isn't a curated or ranked list.

Within Savannah's Downtown, Victorian, and Streetcar historic districts, new non-owner-occupied STVRs in residential areas are capped at 20% of residential parcels per ward. Owner-occupied parcels are exempt. Once a ward hits the cap, new non-owner-occupied certificates are waitlist-only.

Ward boundaries come from the SAGIS Historic Savannah Wards 1953 layer, resolved server-side by point-in-polygon. The capped-ward list is a manual snapshot from the city's STVR Regulations page; wards open and close rarely. Confirm the ward against the city's official ward map before relying on cap status.

We show the active non-owner-occupied certificate count and the number of parcels for a ward. The City publishes which wards are capped, not each ward's cap; CertScout uses the per-ward caps the City provided in response to an open-records request, and the free Cap Saturation chart shows each capped ward against its cap using CertScout's published counting method. Because the city hasn't confirmed exactly how it counts toward the 20% (by certificate or by parcel), we don't present a definitive "slots remaining" figure.

STVR certificates are valid for one year. Per the city, renewals are due 30 days before the expiration date, and renewals are not available after a certificate expires. CertScout shows two counters: the renewal deadline (expiration minus 30 days) and the expiration date itself.

STVR certificates are non-transferable. On a sale, a new owner must submit a new application within six months of purchase. For pre-existing certificates, certain grandfathering and cap protections may apply — confirm specifics with the city, as CertScout does not assert grandfathered status on any specific parcel without verified records.

Sec. 8-11012 of the City of Savannah's Code covers STVR certificates when a property changes hands. Per the City, STVR certificates remain non-transferable. When a parcel holding a pre-existing certificate has a title transfer, the City's STVR Regulations page states that the new owner's application will not be denied for exceeding the ward's cap if the new owner applies for a new STVR certificate within six months from the date of title transfer. The ordinance refers to any transfer of property title; it does not list deed types.

How CertScout shows it: the six months are counted as calendar months from the deed date recorded in Chatham County Board of Assessors sales records (the New-owner reapply deadline on Transfer Watch and Opportunity Radar cards). Recorded deeds can lag the actual closing by weeks, so the real deadline may be earlier than shown. CertScout does not determine eligibility or how the City treats a particular deed — confirm with the City of Savannah. Source: City of Savannah STVR Regulations.

Everything CertScout shows from public records is free: the address screener, the Landscape stats and map, Market Pulse, and every chart and report (Cap Saturation, Event Velocity, Cert Concentration, Parcel Composition), plus one alert watch. A subscription adds analytical tools built on that data: Opportunity Radar, Transfer Watch, cash-flow estimates, up to 25 alert watches, and print-ready PDF reports. Subscriptions are not open yet.

A subscription feature. It lists non-owner-occupied certificates in capped wards that face a near-term renewal decision, plus a daily change detector. Three views: Potential openings (approaching the renewal deadline), Past renewal deadline (past the renewal deadline 30 days before the listed expiration, but not yet past the listed expiration date), and Not on list (certificates that left the city's published list since the last daily snapshot — the strongest opening signal). A card also shows when the parcel had a recorded title transfer in the last 12 months.

A subscription feature. It lists non-owner-occupied (Type 2) certificates in capped wards whose parcel had a recorded title transfer in the last 12 months, and where each one stands against the Sec. 8-11012 six-month reapplication window. Three views: Reapply clock running (the transfer is less than six months old and no newer certificate for the same unit is on the City's published list yet), New cert after transfer (a certificate for the same unit is dated on the City's list within six months after the transfer; the card says whether CertScout's records show an earlier certificate for the unit), and Window passed (six months have passed with no other certificate for the same unit dated on the City's list in that window; the certificate itself remains on the City's list, and some have been renewed by the City since the deed). Transfers come from Chatham County Board of Assessors sales records, including quitclaim and related-party deeds; recent deeds can take weeks to appear there. CertScout does not determine a certificate's status — confirm with the City of Savannah.

Both mean a deed for the parcel was recorded in Chatham County Board of Assessors sales records on the date shown. Sold means the Assessor marked the deed a qualified sale. Transferred means the Assessor did not — for example a quitclaim deed, a related-party transfer, or an estate transfer. Tap Sale details on a card for the deed book and page, the consideration, the deed type, and the last qualified sale when that was a different deed. The Screen It property record shows the same last sale. Recent deeds can take weeks to appear in Assessor records. A recorded deed is not a confirmation of cap-protected transferability — see Sec. 8-11012 and confirm with the City of Savannah.

Both compare the recorded deed with the City's published certificate list for the same unit.

Filed after transfer — the card's own certificate has a date on the City's list (its application date, or the date it first appeared on the list) within six months after the recorded transfer, the window Sec. 8-11012 gives a new owner to apply. This is timing only: it does not mean the certificate replaced an earlier one. The card says whether CertScout's records show an earlier certificate for the unit.

Newer cert on file — another non-owner-occupied (Type 2) certificate for the same unit appeared on the City's list within six months after the transfer. The card names that certificate and its date.

Neither — the City's list shows no newer certificate for the unit dated after the transfer. CertScout can't see applications the City hasn't published yet, deeds the Assessor hasn't recorded yet, or how the City treats a particular deed (for example a transfer to the owner's own company). CertScout has recorded the City's list every night since July 2026, so a certificate that left the list before then isn't in its records. CertScout does not determine a certificate's status — confirm with the City of Savannah.

Yes means the Chatham County Board of Assessors record published on the public SAGIS parcel layer shows a Stephens-Day homestead base-year value for the parcel; No means it shows none. In Georgia, a homestead exemption applies to an owner's primary residence. The record can lag a sale until the next tax year, which is why the property record notes when the exemption was on file before a newer recorded transfer. Confirm with the Chatham County Board of Assessors.

No — they're leads, not confirmed openings. The large majority of certificates renew on time. A listing means a renewal decision is due; the real signal is when a certificate leaves the daily city list. Always verify with the city before acting, and follow all CAN-SPAM, Do-Not-Call, and anti-solicitation rules when contacting owners.

A subscription feature. For a property with a certificate on file — or one that looks owner-occupied and exempt from the cap — CertScout estimates annual revenue, average daily rate, and occupancy using comparable Savannah short-term rentals from AirROI. It's a starting point for a financial conversation, not an appraisal: actual performance depends on furnishing, management, and market conditions.

Two kinds, both plain and factual — they mirror the City of Savannah's public STVR list, the published ordinance, and public parcel records. They are never marketing.

• Account emails — a one-time confirmation when you sign up, and a sign-in link when you request one.
• Watchlist emails — a one-time baseline the moment you add a ward or address to your watchlist, then a change digest whenever something on a watched ward or property changes. No changes, no email.

Every watchlist email ends with the same note: This is an automated notice reflecting the City of Savannah's public STVR certificate list, published ordinance, and public parcel records. CertScout does not represent the City and cannot confirm how individual applications are processed. The samples below use example certificate numbers, addresses, and dates; your emails carry the real ones.

Subject: Your CertScout watchlist baseline. It opens with "Here's the current status of what you just added to your CertScout watchlist:" and states where things stand today — nothing has changed yet, it's your starting point. Watching a ward (capped): Watching a ward (not capped): Watching an address with a certificate: Watching an address with no certificate:

Subject: Your CertScout alert digest, opening with "Here's what changed on your CertScout watchlist:" — grouped by the ward or address it concerns. One digest can carry several of the lines below. A certificate is added, removed, or renewed: A certificate's manager or occupancy classification changes: A renewal deadline is approaching or has arrived: A certificate drops off the City list: A watched ward reaches its cap: A deed is recorded on a watched property:

These are sent only when you take an action on the site, and each contains a single green button. When you sign up — subject "Confirm your CertScout alerts": a confirmation link to activate your account. When you request access — subject "Your CertScout sign-in link": a link that signs you in. It's single-use for a short window; request a fresh one anytime.

Every watchlist email has an Unsubscribe from CertScout alerts link in the footer, and supports one-click unsubscribe from the Gmail/Apple Mail header button. You can also remove individual wards or addresses from your watchlist to stop alerts for just those, while keeping the rest. Account emails (confirmation, sign-in) are sent only in response to something you do, so there's nothing to unsubscribe from there.

The city's short-term vacation rental program is the authority on certificates, applications, and the cap. Reach them directly:

• STVR website: savannahga.gov/1476 — Short-Term Vacation Rentals
• Phone: (912) 525-2783 (Option 2)
• 24/7 hotline: (912) 226-0320
• Email: stvr@savannahga.gov

No. An APN starting with 1 is unincorporated Chatham County (its own ordinance); only APNs starting with 2 follow the City of Savannah rules screened here.

CertScout is a service of The Ladnar Group. Contact them at info@certscout.net