Recreational vehicle park occupancy law sets the rules for how long you can stay, what your written agreement must cover, and how a park can — or cannot — make you leave. The hinge of the whole system in most states is a single number: 30 consecutive days. Stay fewer, and you are a transient guest who can be removed quickly. Stay longer, and you become a tenant with formal notice rights, a chance to cure problems before eviction, and access to the courts if the park tries to push you out improperly.
When a Guest Becomes a Tenant
Your legal classification decides nearly everything else. A person on a site for a week is, in most states, a transient guest governed by innkeeper or lodging rules, and the park has broad authority to remove them with little process. Cross into tenant status and the picture shifts to something much closer to traditional landlord-tenant law: written notice before termination, a right to cure a violation, and judicial eviction if you refuse to leave.
The common dividing line is 30 consecutive days. States with RV-specific occupancy statutes typically treat anyone staying beyond that as a tenant and anyone staying 30 days or fewer as an occupant or guest. Some states add a third tier for people who remain nine months or longer, classifying them as residents and giving them even stronger protections, including longer notice before a park can end the agreement.
Misclassification cuts both ways. A park that treats a tenant as a transient and tries a quick removal can face damages for willful violations of tenant protections. A guest who assumes they already have tenant rights at day ten may find out otherwise when management asks them to pack up. Confirm which category applies before a dispute starts.
What Belongs in the Written Agreement
The occupancy agreement is the backbone of the relationship. Requirements vary by state, but a workable agreement covers the same core ground:
- Legal names of every person who will occupy the site, with government ID for the primary registrant.
- The RV’s make, model, year, and plate number. This matters later if the vehicle is abandoned or rent stops.
- The daily, weekly, or monthly rate, with separate line items for electricity, water, sewer, and other utilities. Pricing ambiguity drives a large share of park disputes.
- The specific site number and any physical restrictions on it, such as length limits or slide-out clearances.
- A copy of all park rules: quiet hours, guest policy, pets, waste disposal. Rules not disclosed in writing before move-in are hard for the park to enforce afterward.
- Duration and renewal terms — whether the stay runs week-to-week, month-to-month, or for a fixed period, and what happens at the end.
Some parks also require proof of liability insurance on the RV. Whether insurance is mandatory, and at what coverage level, depends on the park’s own policy and state law. If it is required, that requirement should be in the written agreement, not sprung later.
If the park runs a credit or criminal background check as part of long-term screening, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies. You must give written permission before the report is pulled, and if you are denied based on the report you have the right to see it, dispute inaccurate information, and receive written notice of the results.1Federal Trade Commission. What Tenant Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the Fair Credit Reporting Act Application fees are capped in some states (roughly $50 to $65 is common where caps exist) and uncapped in others. Ask upfront, and ask whether the fee is refundable on denial.
How a Park Can End Your Stay
Termination procedure tracks the classification. A transient guest can be removed quickly, and in some states law enforcement can treat a guest who refuses to leave after proper notice as a trespasser.
For tenants, the rules are more structured. Most states with RV occupancy laws separate two situations:
- Nonpayment of rent or utilities. The park must give written notice stating the amount owed and a short window to pay. Some states require a brief grace period after the due date before notice can issue, followed by a separate cure period. Combined, these timelines commonly run from about a week to two weeks.
- Everything else — rule violations, change of land use, or other non-monetary grounds. These usually require longer notice. Thirty days is a frequent minimum, and some states require more for long-term tenants.
If you refuse to leave after the notice period, the park still cannot tow your RV or cut off your utilities. Self-help eviction is illegal in most states. The park must file a formal eviction action in court. If you lose, you may owe unpaid rent, attorney fees, and court costs, with the exact exposure set by state law and your agreement.
Military Right to Terminate
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955, lets active-duty service members and their dependents end residential leases, including RV park agreements, without penalty in defined circumstances. A service member who receives permanent change of station orders or deployment orders exceeding 90 days can terminate by delivering written notice with a copy of the orders. For a month-to-month agreement, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rental payment becomes due following delivery of the notice.
The SCRA also protects the spouse of a service member who dies in service or suffers a catastrophic injury or illness; the spouse can terminate by written notice. Early-termination fees in the agreement do not override these federal rights, and parks that try to enforce them against covered service members risk federal liability.
Local Stay Limits and Zoning
Even a park that is happy to keep you may not be allowed to. Local zoning codes often cap how long any one person can occupy an RV at a single location, to stop recreational parks from quietly turning into permanent residential communities without the infrastructure and permitting that full-time housing requires. Caps vary a lot: some municipalities allow as little as 90 days, others permit six months or more within a calendar year.
Enforcement generally lands on the park, not the individual. Operators that let people stay past the zoning limit can face daily fines, loss of their operating permit, or code-enforcement orders to come into compliance. Occupants over the limit may be required to move, and in some places local officials can cite them directly.
Parks in flood zones carry a separate federal constraint. The National Flood Insurance Program sets standards for how long an RV can remain in a special flood hazard area before it is treated as a permanent structure subject to elevation and anchoring rules. If your park sits in a coastal or riverine flood zone, confirm it meets those standards, because noncompliance can affect both insurance and your legal ability to stay.
Fair Housing Protections
The Fair Housing Act reaches RV parks that function as long-term housing. A park cannot discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Familial status is a frequent flashpoint: an “adults only” park violates the FHA unless it qualifies for the Housing for Older Persons Act exemption, which requires at least 80 percent of occupied units to have at least one resident aged 55 or older, together with published policies showing an intent to operate as senior housing.
Disability protections require reasonable accommodations. A park with a “no pets” policy must still allow service animals and emotional support animals when the occupant has documentation of a disability-related need. The park cannot charge pet fees or deposits for those animals, though you remain responsible for any damage the animal causes. Parks that refuse reasonable accommodation requests risk enforcement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Public-facing parks also owe Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in common facilities. Shared restrooms, showers, laundry rooms, and the paths connecting common areas to individual sites must meet accessibility standards, and parks must designate accessible sites.
If a Vehicle Is Left Behind
When an occupant leaves an RV on a site without paying or communicating, the park cannot just dispose of it. State law sets procedures for declaring a vehicle abandoned, notifying the owner, and eventually selling or disposing of the property. Timelines vary, but the park has to make a documented good-faith effort to reach the owner first.
The usual sequence starts with written notice to the registered owner at their last known address, warning that the vehicle will be treated as abandoned if not claimed within a stated number of days. If the owner does not respond, most states require the park to work with local law enforcement or the state motor vehicle agency to process the abandonment. Towing, storage, and disposal costs generally become a lien against the vehicle, recoverable from the eventual sale.
Personal belongings inside the RV sit under a separate rule. Many states require the park to inventory and store the owner’s personal property for a minimum period before disposing of it. Skipping those steps exposes the operator to liability for conversion. Following the state’s abandoned vehicle statute to the letter, with documentation at every step, is the safe path.
Occupancy Taxes and the 30-Day Exemption
Short-term RV stays are usually subject to transient occupancy taxes, the same category that applies to hotel guests. The label varies — lodging tax, bed tax, tourist tax — but the mechanics are the same: a percentage added to the nightly or weekly rate that the park collects and sends to the local government. Rates commonly run from about 5 to 15 percent depending on the state and municipality.
The tax usually drops off once you cross into long-term status, and in most jurisdictions that threshold matches the tenant line: a stay longer than 30 consecutive days makes you exempt going forward. Some places apply the exemption automatically; others require you to request it. If you think you have been overcharged, ask the park for documentation of the local rate and exemption rules, which the taxing authority sets.