Baroda
Short-term & long-term rental regulations, fees, and investor resources for Berrien County, Michigan.
Area Overview
The Village of Baroda is a small, rural wine-country village in central Berrien County, Michigan — about 15 minutes inland from Stevensville and Bridgman, surrounded by Baroda Township's vineyards, orchards and farmland. Housing stock is almost entirely single-family homes on modest lots in R-1 and R-2 residential districts, with a compact B-1 commercial downtown along 1st Street.
The Village operates with a very light regulatory footprint for rentals. There is no village-level short-term rental ordinance, no rental-registration program, and no dedicated rental-inspection regime. The Baroda Code of Ordinances, hosted on eCode360, was last codified through September 2017 and pre-dates the recent Michigan STR ordinance wave [1][2]. In the absence of a local STR rule, operators should verify at the parcel level with the Village zoning administrator before advertising a short-term rental, because single-family-residential zoning alone is not a blanket allowance for transient lodging under Michigan case law.
Quick Status Summary
The Village has not adopted a short-term rental ordinance. The Code of Ordinances (codified through September 2017 on eCode360) does not define, permit, or prohibit STRs by name, and the Zoning Ordinance does not list short-term / transient rental as a use in any residential district. Because zoning silence is not the same as an affirmative allowance, operators should verify at the parcel level with the Village zoning administrator and Planning Commission before advertising an STR. Baroda Township (a separate jurisdiction that surrounds the Village) has its own rental ordinance that may apply to nearby properties outside Village limits.
Long-term rentals (30+ day leases) are permitted in the Village wherever residential dwelling use is permitted by the Zoning Ordinance — primarily the R-1 Single-Family and R-2 Two-Family Residential districts. There is no Village rental-registration program, no periodic rental-inspection requirement, and no Village-issued LTR permit. Michigan landlord-tenant law and the Village's adopted Property Maintenance Code set the baseline standards.
Rental Regulations
Where STRs Are Allowed (Zoning)
The Village of Baroda Zoning Ordinance does not name short-term or transient rental as a permitted use in any residential district [2]. The Village has R-1 Single-Family Residential, R-2 Two-Family Residential, and B-1 Business districts, each with their own list of permitted uses and yard/height/lot requirements. Under Michigan zoning practice, a use that is not expressly permitted is generally treated as not allowed — but this is exactly the kind of ambiguity that requires a parcel-level read with the Village.
Until and unless the Village adopts a short-term rental ordinance, the practical answer for any specific parcel in Baroda is: verify with the Village zoning administrator in writing before you buy or list. Do not rely on a sold-as-STR listing from a broker without that written confirmation.
Click through to the official Zoning Map PDF to confirm a specific parcel’s district.
Registration & Permit Process
There is no Village of Baroda short-term rental registration or permit program. The Village does not issue STR permits, collect STR application fees, or maintain an STR rental registry. Operators pursuing an STR should engage with the Village through the existing zoning framework:
These are the four legitimate doors into the Village’s current process. None of them guarantee an STR approval; they’re how you get a written answer instead of a verbal one.
Fees & Penalties
No STR-specific fees are published by the Village of Baroda because there is no STR ordinance to fee-schedule against. The fees most likely to come into play if you pursue a written zoning answer or an ordinance change are standard Planning/Zoning fees [3]:
Applicants are also responsible for the cost of any public-hearing publication (billed by the Berrien County Record) and the cost of mailing hearing notices. Enforcement of Village ordinance violations is handled through the Enforcement Officer at 269-849-9343 [4].
Safety & Property Maintenance
Baroda has adopted a Property Maintenance Code under Chapter 8, Article III of the Village Code [1]. Violations are municipal civil infractions [1][4]. For a rental property of any duration, the practical baseline is:
- Working smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide detectors (per Michigan Residential Code).
- No peeling paint, broken shutters, or damaged exterior that violates the Property Maintenance Code [4].
- Lawn/weeds kept under 6 inches — the Village has an active nuisance-cut program with DPW charge-back under Ordinance 185 [4].
- Snow and ice removal from driveways and sidewalks is the owner’s responsibility, not the tenant’s, from a Village enforcement standpoint [4].
- Trash/recycling in containers; no overfill.
Violations are reported to the Enforcement Officer at barodaordinance@gmail.com or 269-849-9343.
State-Level & Tax Obligations
Even without a Village STR ordinance, Michigan state-level obligations still apply to any short-term rental operator in Baroda:
- 6% State Use Tax on rentals of 30 days or less — collected and remitted to the Michigan Department of Treasury (Airbnb/Vrbo collect automatically for bookings through their platforms; direct bookings are the operator’s responsibility).
- Berrien County 5% Accommodations Excise Tax on transient (<30 day) lodging, administered by the Berrien County Treasurer [5].
- Michigan Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) — cannot be claimed on a property used primarily as an investor STR.
- Michigan sales tax license via the Department of Treasury if collecting use tax directly.
Where LTRs Are Allowed (Zoning)
Long-term rentals (30+ day leases) are permitted anywhere residential dwelling use is permitted by the Village Zoning Ordinance [2]. The Village’s R-1 Single-Family Residential and R-2 Two-Family Residential districts both permit residential occupancy by right, whether owner-occupied or leased long-term. There is no Village-level distinction between an owner-occupied home and a long-term leased home for zoning purposes.
The B-1 Business district along the downtown corridor permits residential dwelling units in mixed-use configurations under the ordinance’s permitted-use schedule; confirm the specific configuration with the Village before investing in a downtown mixed-use parcel.
Click through to the official Zoning Map PDF to confirm a specific parcel’s district.
Registration & Permit Process
There is no Village of Baroda long-term rental registration program. The Village does not require landlords to register rental properties, submit a landlord affidavit, obtain a certificate of compliance, or schedule periodic rental inspections. This is different from neighboring jurisdictions like Stevensville and Bridgman that maintain active rental-registration regimes.
Michigan state law governs the landlord/tenant relationship directly — see the Michigan Truth in Renting Act (Public Act 348 of 1972) and the state’s security deposit rules (Public Act 348 of 1972). These are enforced through the 5th District Court, not the Village.
Safety & Property Maintenance
The same Property Maintenance Code and Village-level requirements that apply to any home in Baroda apply to long-term rentals [1][4]. Because there is no Village rental inspection, compliance is enforced on a complaint basis by the Village’s Enforcement Officer:
- Exterior upkeep — peeling paint, broken shutters, damaged garage doors must be repaired (Property Maintenance Code).
- Lawn/weeds under 6 inches; DPW will cut and bill the owner under Ordinance 185 if the property is not mowed after notice [4].
- Snow/ice removal on sidewalks and driveways — the Village treats this as the property owner’s responsibility [4].
- Smoke/CO alarms per Michigan Residential Code.
Complaints and violations are routed to the Enforcement Officer at 269-849-9343 or barodaordinance@gmail.com [4].
Utilities, Water & Sewer
Rental properties inside Village limits are served by the Village Water Department and the Village sewer system. Tap and connection fees are billed to the property owner at the time of new construction or service change [3]:
Ongoing water/sewer usage is metered and billed monthly. Owners remain responsible for billing; an unpaid water balance can lien the property regardless of who occupies it. Landlords should confirm account titling with the Village Treasurer before closing.
Official Resources
Property Tax Treatment
Explore Rental Guides — Berrien County
All 39 municipalities in Berrien County. Click any to view its rental guide — or request one if it’s not yet live.
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Evaluating a property in or near Baroda?
Baroda Village's light regulatory footprint cuts both ways for investors — fewer hoops than Stevensville or Bridgman, but less certainty about what a future STR ordinance might allow. I help buyers compare Baroda parcels against Baroda Township, Stevensville, Bridgman, and the wider Berrien County wine-country market with a clear read on current rules and where they're likely to tighten.
Sources & Downloads
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1Village of Baroda — Code of Ordinances (eCode360)https://ecode360.com/BA3934Full codified Village ordinances, updated through September 2017. Chapter 8 Article III adopts the Property Maintenance Code; no STR or rental-registration ordinance is present in the codified body.Verified: 2026-04-20
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2Village of Baroda — Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 40)https://ecode360.com/33327522District regulations for R-1, R-2, B-1 and other Village zoning districts. No short-term / transient rental use is named as a permitted or special use in any district.Verified: 2026-04-20
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3Village of Baroda — Building Department Fee Schedulehttps://barodavillage.org/departments/building-department/fee-scheduleSource for Zoning Permit ($30 AG / $20 other), Special Use Permit $150, ZBA $200, Ordinance Amendment $250, Escrow $500 minimum, water/sewer tap and connection fees.Verified: 2026-04-20
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4Village of Baroda — Property Maintenance and Code Enforcementhttps://barodavillage.org/government/code-enforcement/property-maintenanceNuisance-cut program under Village Ordinance 185, exterior structure requirements, snow/ice removal policy, and the Enforcement Officer contact (269-849-9343, barodaordinance@gmail.com).Verified: 2026-04-20
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5Berrien County Treasurer — Accommodations Excise Taxhttps://www.berriencounty.org/819/TreasurerCounty-level 5% accommodations excise tax applies to transient (<30 day) lodging in Berrien County municipalities including the Village of Baroda.Verified: 2026-04-20