Chatham's Rental Fee Was $50 in July. Starting in January It's $325.

The second fee increase in two months, $200-a-day fines aimed at unregistered rentals on three streets, and a board that thinks its own count is low.

On Sam Ryder Road, Cedar Swamp Lane and Pine Drive, the owners of short-term rentals the town found unregistered got notices twice: once by regular mail, once by registered. On Sept. 28 the Chatham Board of Health voted to impose fines of $200 a day on those unregistered rentals.

The next night, the select board voted on the fee everyone else pays.

$50, then $200, then $325

Until August, registering a short-term rental in Chatham cost $50. In August the select board raised it to $200, the rate for 2026. On Sept. 29 it voted unanimously to raise it again, to $325 a year, effective Jan. 1, 2027. The town says applications for 2027 open in December.

The math was the argument. The program, which the health department runs, costs about $281,000 a year in administration and inspections. At the current count of 901 rentals, $325 brings in about $292,825. The board looked at $350, which would have raised about $315,350, and board member Dean Nicastro said that was more than he was comfortable with. Town Counsel Jason Talerman noted that towns generally can't charge more for a service than it costs.

Vice Chair Cory Metters called the increase "a drop in the bucket" for owners.

901 on the list

The health department has 901 rentals registered for 2026. Three bedrooms is the most common size, 372 of them. Four bedrooms is next.

Talerman told the board the real number is bigger. The town's list is shorter than the count registered with the state, he said, so registrations will likely grow, and the fee will bring in more than the spreadsheet shows.

$100 a bedroom, almost

Before settling on one flat fee, the board talked about charging by the bedroom. Chair Jeffrey Dykens liked $100 per bedroom. At that rate, a three-bedroom house would have paid $300 and a five-bedroom house $500.

Natural Resources Director Greg Berman pointed out that a bedroom-based fee would be unique in Massachusetts and on the Cape, and being first carries some risk. Talerman said it would need a "reasonable nexus," most likely that bigger houses take more inspecting. Metters preferred one fee for everyone, simpler to run and ready if the state passes a pending bill requiring more inspections.

The flat fee won. The board plans to take up a new general bylaw on short-term rentals later this month.

If you live next door

Chatham and its neighbors are trying to keep track of how many houses rent by the week. The registration is the count. The inspection is the safety check: the town inspects new registrations and works through about a third of existing rentals each year. The concern the board keeps coming back to is year-round housing, and what weekly rentals do to a street.

If you own one, $325 is the new number for 2027. If you live next to one, the notices on Sam Ryder Road show the town is now looking.

Chatham short-term rental registration | Chatham Health Department, 549 Main St.

2026 fee: $200. From Jan. 1, 2027: $325 a year. 2027 applications open in December 2026.

Board of Health fines of $200 a day voted Sept. 28 for identified unregistered rentals on Sam Ryder Road, Cedar Swamp Lane and Pine Drive.

Chatham Short Term Rental Registration Certificate