The license number on a Putnam County vacation rental belongs to the person who applied for it. Under the county's short-term vacation rental ordinance, which took effect September 1, 2023, no licensee may transfer the right to operate "to any other person or entity by lease, agreement, or any other contract." A buyer who sees years of booking history on a lake house is looking at the seller's permission. As the ordinance is written, the buyer's own permission depends on applying for a license under a countywide cap, and possibly waiting on a list.
Across the lake in Greene County, the question is more basic. A home either sits inside a Short Term Rental Overlay district or it does not. The house, the dock and the view don't change the answer. Put together, Lake Oconee's two main county systems tie rental rights to a map or to a person, and neither one ties them to the property you are buying.
The Putnam License Leaves With the Seller
Putnam's ordinance divides unincorporated residential land into three overlay sectors. Sector 1 covers R-1R zoning, and no new short-term rentals are allowed there except pre-existing nonconforming uses. Sector 2 covers R-1, R-2, RM-1 and RM-3. Sector 3 covers AG.
Sectors 2 and 3 share a ceiling of 350 total licenses. That count includes the grandfathered licenses in R-1R. Once the ceiling is reached, new applications go on a waitlist "in the order in which they are received by the County Clerk," and openings come only when an existing license isn't renewed or is revoked.
Licenses run one calendar year. A license issued after October 1 stays valid through December 31 of the following year. Each license is good only at the location it was issued for.
Occupancy follows the same pattern. The limit is two people per bedroom plus two more per residence, up to a maximum of 12. Licenses issued before September 1, 2023 above that limit can keep their higher number "unless such license is relinquished, is revoked," or structural changes call for a reduction. Read with the transfer ban, a larger home marketed with a pre-2023 occupancy figure may not keep that figure under a new owner's license.
The ordinance also says it doesn't override "any applicable private covenants" that prohibit or limit rentals. A county license is required, and a community's own documents can still say no.
How the numbers were set
Lake Oconee News followed the draft through 2023. The proposed cap went from 300 to 400 and then settled at 350. A proposed 16-person occupancy ceiling came down to 12. "Occupancy has a lot to do with the disturbances," Commissioner Alan Foster said during an earlier work session.
After adoption, the paper reported in October 2023 that the board had unanimously approved two contested permits involving R-1R properties. County Attorney Adam Nelson said, "Six months from now it will be settled."
What is less clear is where the count stands now. The Board of Commissioners' April 4, 2025 agenda listed a short-term rental update covering licensing and code enforcement. The Eatonton Messenger mentioned that update on April 9, 2025 without reporting figures. We found no public 2024 to 2026 record of how many licenses are issued or how long the waitlist is. The application fee is set by the County Clerk and isn't printed in the ordinance. The County Clerk's office is the only reliable source for the current count.
In Greene County, the Overlay Decides
Greene County commissioners adopted the overlay ordinance at a called meeting on October 2, 2017. The vote was 3–2. Commissioners Human and Filice and Chairman Usry voted in favor, and Commissioners Deering and Smith voted against. Under the ordinance, short-term rentals operate only inside a Short Term Rental Overlay, or STRO, district. Each unit also needs a business license, unless one operator managing several rentals applies for a single license that covers them. Hotel/motel tax registration and any other required permits apply on top of the license.
A new overlay can come about in two ways:
- Owner-initiated. Applicants must submit signed support from owners of at least 60% of the legal parcels in the residential community, with contact details for each owner. The Board of Commissioners makes the final decision regardless of the signature count.
- Developer-initiated. A developer that is actively developing a community and still owns developable land in or next to it can apply for designated areas within that community.
Either way, an approved overlay lasts five years. After that it can be renewed or terminated following a public hearing. Rental eligibility in Greene therefore has a renewal date.
Where Reynolds' Rentable Homes Sit
The developer route is how Reynolds got its rental districts. On October 16, 2018, the board unanimously approved overlays for "specified multi-family areas" known as Marina Cove Village, The Village at Lake Club Pointe, National Club Cottages and The Village at The Landing. Rabun Neal, speaking for the applicant, put the total at roughly 275 condos and homes across those areas. He said Reynolds owned eight and managed about 30 more for other owners.
Five years later, the September 26, 2023 Planning and Zoning agenda listed Oconee Land Development Co.'s request to renew the overlays for those same four areas. We didn't find the board's final action on that renewal in the records we reviewed.
The most recent addition came in 2025. At the June 24, 2025 Planning and Zoning hearing, Oconee Land Development Co. asked to rezone 6.30 acres on Landing Parkway, known as the Village at Reynolds Landing, Sect. 3, from PUD to PUD with STRO. Building Official Chuck Wooley said the community already includes overlay areas and the change "would not change existing conditions." Neal said the new cottages would stay in the developer's ownership for members and guests. He said the existing district includes more than 200 units, most of them owned by individuals, and that stays usually run two to seven days. The Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning unanimously on July 8, 2025.
A resident spoke at both hearings, seven years apart. Both times, the resident said the 60% threshold should also apply to developer requests. The rule hasn't changed, and that tells a buyer where Reynolds' rentable inventory tends to sit. It is concentrated in named village and cottage clusters that the developer designated. A single-family lot elsewhere in the community would need its neighbors to clear the 60% bar.
| Greene County | Putnam County | |
|---|---|---|
| What grants the right | Mapped STRO overlay district plus a business license | Annual license under a sector cap |
| How new rights are created | 60% of parcel owners, or an active developer | Application to the County Clerk, with a waitlist once the cap is reached |
| How long it lasts | Five years per district, then a public hearing | One calendar year per license |
| Moves with a sale | The overlay is tied to the land | The license cannot be transferred |
| Occupancy limit | Set elsewhere | 2 per bedroom plus 2, maximum 12 |
Masters Week, and the $1,000 Day
Greene's rules include one seasonal exception that matters to anyone who owns near Augusta's busiest week. From April 1 through April 15, under County Ordinance 7.19.3.4, a property can be rented without the short-term rental business license. Hotel/motel tax for those dates is still due by May 20. Rentals of 31 days or longer don't need the license at all.
Outside those windows, the penalty adds up quickly. An unlicensed short-term rental draws a $1,000 penalty, and "each day the unit is marketed or rented" counts as a separate violation. Because a listing counts even before anyone books, the time to sort out eligibility is before the closing date, not after the first listing goes live. A Georgia Sales and Use Tax number is also required to apply.
What to Confirm Before an Offer
If rental income is part of how you plan to carry a lake home, these checks belong in due diligence:
- Identify the county. Greene and Putnam use different systems, and the rest of the checklist depends on which one applies.
- In Greene, check the map. Look up the address on the Greene County Assessor's qPublic site, open the map view, and turn on the "Short Term Rental Districts" layer. Overlay districts show in yellow.
- In Greene, ask when the district is due for renewal. Each overlay runs five years.
- In Putnam, confirm the zoning sector. R-1R allows no new licenses.
- In Putnam, ask the County Clerk for the current license count and waitlist position. Plan on applying as a new licensee, not taking over the seller's license.
- Read the community covenants. Putnam's ordinance explicitly defers to private restrictions, and a community's own rules can be stricter than the county's.
None of this is legal or tax advice. County ordinances can be amended, so confirm the current rules with Putnam County's Clerk and Greene County Building & Zoning before you rely on them.
A Few Questions We Hear
Can I rent my Putnam County home for Masters week without a license? Putnam's ordinance exempts one rental period per calendar year of no more than 14 days. Greene's exemption is set by date and runs April 1 through April 15.
If a Greene County home is already in an overlay, do I still need a license? Yes. The ordinance requires a business license before a unit is rented, in addition to hotel/motel tax registration. Each unit generally needs its own license, though an operator managing multiple rentals can apply for a single license that covers them.
Can my neighborhood add an overlay? In Greene, owners can apply with documented support from at least 60% of the community's legal parcels. The Board of Commissioners has the final say.
Whether a lake home can earn rental income comes down to a map layer, a license count and a set of covenants, and each one is worth checking before you sign. The Jennifer Vaughan team will pull those details for any Lake Oconee property you're considering, in either county, so the rental plan you're counting on holds up after closing. Love Where You Live. Let's Get Started.