An RV park can refuse to rent you a campsite in many situations. Private campgrounds generally have considerable freedom to decide what types of RVs they accept and to establish rules for guests.
That freedom has limits, however.
Federal and state laws can prohibit certain forms of discrimination, but RV parks can still set many rules about the campers and vehicles they accept.
A 10-Year RV Rule Is Generally Legal
One common example is the so-called 10-year rule.
Some RV parks refuse RVs older than 10 years, while others require photos or management approval before accepting an older rig. Other parks may restrict certain types of RVs, set minimum or maximum lengths, or require RVs to meet appearance and condition standards.
Those rules can exclude people, but that does not make them unlawful discrimination.
Federal public-accommodation law does not make the age of your RV a protected characteristic. A campground can generally distinguish between a 2006 motorhome and a 2026 motorhome just as it can decide that it only has sites suitable for RVs under a certain length.
Similar policies may include:
- RV age, type, size, or condition requirements
- Limits based on the size or configuration of a campsite
- Occupancy limits
- Rules addressing safety or disruptive behavior
- Requirements that guests pay campground fees and follow park policies
Problems can arise if a campground uses one of those rules as an excuse to discriminate against someone for an unlawful reason or selectively enforces the rule against certain people.
Related: Campground Owner Defends the Controversial 10-Year Rule, RVers Push Back
Campgrounds Cannot Refuse Guests Because of Race
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin at covered places of public accommodation, including establishments that provide lodging to transient guests. 42 U.S.C. § 2000a
Courts have applied the law directly to campgrounds.
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Camp Riverview in Concan, Texas, accusing its owners of denying lodging to Hispanic campers, harassing them, and evicting them because of their national origin and color. The Justice Department treated the campground as a place of public accommodation covered by Title II.
The campground later entered into a settlement requiring nondiscriminatory admissions, reservation and eviction policies.
So while a campground may be able to reject an RV because of its age or condition, rejecting its owner because of race is an entirely different matter.
Long-Term RV Parks Can Also Be Subject to Fair Housing Laws
The legal picture can change when an RV park functions more like a residential community than a campground for overnight travelers.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in covered housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability. It also requires certain reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 3604
HUD has specifically applied these protections to RV parks offering long-term stays.
In 2023, HUD charged Preferred RV Resort in Nevada with discriminating against a family with three children. Some guests at the resort lived there year-round, while others stayed for as long as nine months. HUD stated that RV parks offering long-term stays must comply with the Fair Housing Act.
That does not mean every campground reservation automatically falls under federal fair-housing law. A weekend camping stay and a site being used as someone’s residence can raise different legal issues.
Disability Laws Can Override Some Normal Campground Rules
Campgrounds open to the public also have obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For example, a campground may normally prohibit pets, but the ADA does not treat a qualifying service animal as a pet. Businesses generally must modify a no-pets policy to allow a trained service animal accompanying a person with a disability. The ADA’s service animal guidance explains the requirements.
Long-term RV parks can face additional requirements under the Fair Housing Act.
In January 2026, the Justice Department settled a case involving Decoy RV Park in Caldwell, Idaho. The government alleged that the park refused to accommodate a tenant with disabilities because her assistance dog exceeded the park’s 15-pound pet limit and charged her a pet fee. The settlement required the defendants to pay $20,000 and adopt a new reasonable-accommodation policy. The Justice Department’s case shows another example of a campground rule that can’t be applied in the same way when disability protections are involved.
A Virginia Campground Owner Lost Her Property After a Discrimination Case
One of the clearest examples of how serious campground discrimination can become played out at Lazy Cove Campground on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.
In 2020, two families rented camper lots there. One couple was Angela and Damien Smith. Damien Smith is Black.
According to the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, campground owner Regina Turner began trying to remove the families after learning Smith was Black and said she would not have rented to them had she known.
The case eventually went before a Franklin County jury.
In February 2025, the jury awarded the two families a combined $750,000. Each couple received $100,000 in compensatory damages, while another $550,000 was awarded in punitive damages.
Turner then failed to pay the judgment and did not comply with subsequent court orders. Virginia began proceedings against her property to collect what was owed.
The consequences eventually included the campground itself.
According to the Virginia Attorney General, the 18-acre waterfront property was foreclosed on and sold for $1.045 million. In September 2026, the two families each received $417,287.67, which included interest on the original judgment.
Turner was also ordered to serve 30 days in jail after a judge found her in contempt for failing to comply with court orders. The jail sentence stemmed from the contempt proceedings, not the original act of discrimination.
State and Local Laws May Provide Additional Protections
Federal law sets a baseline, but it is not the only law an RV park must follow.
States and local governments can prohibit discrimination based on additional characteristics or impose other requirements on businesses and residential properties. Protections can therefore vary depending on where the campground is located.
The type of RV park can matter too. A private campground serving vacationers, a long-term RV community where people establish residences, and a publicly operated campground may fall under different laws.
Because of those differences, a campground policy that is lawful under federal law could still run afoul of state or local protections.
So, Can an RV Park Refuse to Rent to You?
Yes, in many situations.
An RV park can generally set reasonable rules about the RVs and guests it accepts. That can include restrictions based on RV age, size, type, or condition, along with occupancy limits, payment requirements, and rules governing guest behavior.
What a campground cannot do is refuse service for a reason prohibited by applicable civil-rights, disability, or fair-housing laws.
The exact protections depend partly on the type of campground, how the property is being used, and the laws where it is located. But the basic distinction is simple: RV parks have considerable control over who and what they allow on their property, but that control stops where unlawful discrimination begins.
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