If you own a unit in Teton County and you're thinking about a November-to-April tenant instead of nightly guests, the first thing to sort out is which side of the 31-day line you're on. Almost every other decision follows from that.
1. The 31-day line decides which set of rules applies
In unincorporated Teton County, a residential unit can't be rented in a way that limits occupancy to fewer than 31 days. Anything shorter is a lodging use under a separate section of the Land Development Regulations, and the county's enforcement page is blunt about the mechanics: the rule reaches any agreement, written or verbal, where money or in-kind service changes hands, and there can't be other occupancy inside that window. Violations carry a fine of up to $750, with each day a separate offense.
The Town of Jackson runs a different program. A short-term rental there is a unit rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days, and since January 1, 2024 homes in residential zones outside the Lodging Overlay can be rented short-term with a business license and a Basic Use Permit, capped at three stays and 60 nights a year. The town's short-term rental page closes the obvious loophole: a lease of 30 days or more that limits occupancy to less than 30 days still counts as a short-term lease, and violations can cost you a permit for at least five years.
For a seasonal worker, none of this is a problem — a five-month winter lease is a long-term rental in both jurisdictions. The trap is a lease that says 31 days on the cover but quietly limits occupancy to two weeks.
One more county-specific rule worth checking if you're renting a guest house or accessory unit: the county's own FAQ states that occupancy is limited to people employed within Teton County (or family and guests of the household in the main house), with a minimum rental period of 90 days. That makes local seasonal employees the intended tenant for those units. Regulations do change, so confirm the current language with Teton County Planning before you advertise.
2. Wyoming's deposit rules are specific, and short tenancies trigger them fast
Two sections of the Wyoming Residential Rental Property Act do most of the work here.
Under W.S. § 1-21-1207, a rental agreement has to state whether any portion of a deposit is nonrefundable, and you must also give the renter written notice of that fact when you take the money. If you plan to keep a cleaning fee out of a seasonal tenant's deposit, that disclosure is where it has to live.
Under W.S. § 1-21-1208, the balance of the deposit and a written itemization of any deductions go to the renter within 30 days after the rental agreement terminates, or within 15 days after you receive their new mailing address, whichever is later, plus an additional 30 days if the unit was damaged. Deposits are returned without interest. Permitted deductions are unpaid rent, damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, cleaning to restore the unit to its move-in condition, and other costs the lease provides for. If a landlord unreasonably fails to comply, the renter can recover the full deposit plus court costs. A separately identified utilities deposit has its own 10-day clock once the tenant shows the utility charges are paid.
The seasonal wrinkle: your tenant is often driving out of the valley the same week the lease ends. Get a forwarding address in writing at move-out and note the date you received it.
3. Habitability doesn't shrink with the lease term
W.S. § 1-21-1202 requires owners to maintain a rental unit in a safe and sanitary condition fit for human habitation, with operational electrical, heating, and plumbing, including hot and cold running water, unless both parties agree otherwise in writing. The statute carves out seasonal units like summer cabins that were never intended to have those systems. That is not a general waiver, and it is not a January answer in Jackson.
4. Fair Housing decides how you write the ad
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and the Wyoming Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination in the rental of a dwelling because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. HUD enforces the federal prohibition on sex discrimination as covering sexual orientation and gender identity. Wyoming adds no protected classes beyond the federal list, and it has no HUD-certified state enforcement agency: a 2025 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report notes the state receives no Fair Housing Assistance Program grants, which is why complaints route to HUD.
Advertising is its own violation. Under 24 C.F.R. § 100.75, it's unlawful to publish any notice, statement, or advertisement indicating a preference or limitation based on a protected class, and the rule reaches spoken statements, flyers, signs, and application forms, not just the listing text.
Non-compliant, as written: "Perfect for young ski bums. Single professionals only, no kids."
That ad is unlawful on its face. "No kids" is a direct statement of preference based on familial status, and "single professionals only" signals the same limitation less directly. Whether you meant to exclude a family with a toddler doesn't matter; the statement itself is the violation.
Compliant version: "Furnished bedroom in a shared three-bedroom house. Lease November 15 to April 15, $X/month including utilities. Occupancy limit two people per bedroom. One off-street parking space, no pets, no smoking."
Same unit, same practical constraints, described by the terms of the tenancy rather than by who you picture living there.
Occupancy limits are where seasonal landlords most often stumble into a familial status problem. HUD has treated two people per bedroom as generally reasonable since it adopted the 1991 Keating memo as policy in 1998, but it was never a safe harbor: the Fair Housing Project summarizes the factors HUD weighs, including room and unit size, unit configuration, the ages of children, and local occupancy codes. The failure mode is applying a limit unevenly — four unrelated roommates in a two-bedroom is fine, a family of four in the same unit is refused. Pick a number, base it on the unit, apply it to everyone, and confirm the local code with the planning office instead of inventing a figure.
Screening follows the same logic: written criteria, applied to every applicant in the same order. Where a question is fact-dependent (a reasonable accommodation request, an assistance animal, a specific criminal-record policy), HUD and a Wyoming attorney are the right stops.
5. If you're an employer housing your own staff, the analysis changes
Tying a lease to a job pulls in wage-and-hour law alongside tenancy law. Under 29 C.F.R. § 531.3, an employer counting lodging toward wages may credit only the reasonable cost, which is no more than actual cost and includes no profit, and the regulations require the employee's acceptance of the lodging to be voluntary and uncoerced. If that describes your situation, treat it as a payroll question as much as a rental one.
Get the 31-day question, the deposit disclosure, and the ad language right, and the rest of a seasonal tenancy is logistics: a fixed end date, a written furnishings inventory, who shovels, and where the second car parks. When you're ready, list your unit on TurnSeasons and check what seasonal housing in the valley is renting for.