1. Why we are looking at Locust Lake Village
Locust Lake Village is a planned community in Tobyhanna & Coolbaugh Townships, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, governed by Locust Lake Village Property Owners Association. Like most Poconos lake and resort communities, it has a property owners’ association that collects assessments and adopts rules—and, in many communities, rules about renting. Those rules are only as strong as the authority behind them in the recorded governing documents.
Short-term rental policy: The association’s Vacation Rental Behavior Policy (effective January 1, 2025) requires rental wristbands for renters 12 and older and renter vehicle registration, and the association’s rental page states that pre-registration is required for each booking. (Source: Vacation Rental Behavior Policy (effective January 1, 2025).)
2. Does Locust Lake Village charge short-term rental fees?
We have not yet verified Locust Lake Village’s current STR fee schedule. If you own there and are being charged an Airbnb, VRBO, vacation-rental, guest-registration, or rental fee, we will review the charge and governing documents for free.
If Locust Lake Village is charging you to operate an Airbnb, VRBO, or other short-term rental, send us the information. We are happy to review the declaration and evaluate the fee FOR FREE. You don’t need to know whether the charge is legal—that is what the evaluation is for.
Locust Lake Village Governing Documents
- Rental Rules Vacation Rental Behavior Policy (effective January 1, 2025) Effective January 1, 2025. Source: Association website. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
Documents are listed for reference. We have not published an analysis of these provisions; the source documents control.
Have the Locust Lake Village Declaration or Covenants?
Send us the HOA name and tell us about the fee. We are happy to review the governing documents and evaluate the STR charge FOR FREE.
Don’t have them? Submit the HOA name anyway. Declarations are usually recorded with the county recorder of deeds, and the association’s resale packet or member portal often includes them.
3. Why the recorded declaration matters
A planned community declaration is treated as a contract between the association and its members. Rules and bylaws adopted later do not override it: under Pennsylvania’s Uniform Planned Community Act, if the declaration and the bylaws conflict, the declaration prevails (68 Pa.C.S. § 5203(c)).
In Chan, the Commonwealth Court held that a bylaw amendment regulating short-term rentals—including enrollment and annual fees—was void and unenforceable because “authorization for such regulation is not provided in the Declaration.” Whether the same is true at Locust Lake Village depends on what Locust Lake Village’s own declaration and amendments say. Some declarations do give associations authority over rentals; courts look at the specific language.
4. Short-term rentals and residential use
Associations sometimes argue that renting is a “commercial” use. In Ruffed Grouse Ridge, the Commonwealth Court held that renting a home to private parties—short-term or long-term—did not violate a covenant limiting use to “private residential purposes only,” so long as the renters used it for residential purposes. The court focused on how renters actually use the home, not on how long they stay. The result for any community still turns on its own covenant language.
5. What types of charges should Locust Lake Village owners send us?
- Annual STR permit fees — A yearly charge to be allowed to rent short-term.
- Annual rental assessments — An extra assessment billed only to owners who rent.
- Per-rental or per-stay charges — A charge every time a guest checks in.
- Renter-registration fees — Fees to register a tenant or rental with the association.
- Guest-registration charges — Charges tied to registering renters as guests.
- Mandatory STR amenity charges — Amenity, beach, or facility fees imposed because the home is rented.
- Rental inspection fees — Inspections required only of rented homes.
- Special security charges — Security fees billed to renting owners.
- Rental-processing fees — Administrative or “processing” charges for rentals.
- Badges, wristbands, or passes — Passes required only because a property is rented.
- Other rental-triggered fees — Anything you are charged because you rent short-term.
Listing a charge here is not a claim that Locust Lake Village imposes it, or that it is unlawful. The declaration controls the analysis.
Sources for this page
- Vacation Rental Behavior Policy (effective January 1, 2025) — Locust Lake Village POA, effective January 1, 2025 (retrieved October 1, 2026). Association source.
- Rentals (short-term rental page) — Locust Lake Village POA (retrieved October 1, 2026). Association source.
- Short-term Rental Friendly Pocono Communities — PoconoVacationHomeSales (retrieved October 1, 2026). Secondary source.