Eh, sort of. In my state (and many US states), the first rule that dictates short-term is whether a transient/occupany tax is paid (which it generally is, by Airbnb for their hosts: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/653/in-what-areas-is-occ...).

But many states are cracking down on what "short-term rentals" mean and who falls into this transient tax category. Here in CA, the DRE recently released the following:

>>>First, while the Code refers to “transient occupancies”, the language that is most often used with reference to such occupancies refers to “short term rentals” and “vacation rentals”. As mentioned above, the maximum time period of such rentals cannot exceed 30 days.

>>>Second, the exemption refers to those who handle transient occupancies as agents on behalf of “another or others”. It does not refer to what is commonly described as VRBOs or vacation rentals by owner (s).

Source: http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/adv/LicenseeAlert2016shortte...

And anytime you get local departments of real estate involved, they'll go down kicking and screaming and make it as difficult as possible for Airbnb, VRBO, etc.

The gray area is where an owner engages in serial short term rentals in an attempt to hide the fact that they are basically renting out their property. Airbnb itself has tried to blur whether these guys fall under hospitality rules or not.