California Airbnb laws: find the rule for your hosting model

Which California cities do not allow Airbnb?

Ask whether the city permits your proposed use, not whether the Airbnb brand appears there. Santa Monica prohibits unhosted vacation rentals while allowing licensed home-sharing with the resident on site. Los Angeles’s primary-residence program cannot be used as permission for a separate investment unit.

Sources: Santa Monica Chapter 6.20; Los Angeles eligibility FAQ.

Anaheim maintains a program for existing permitted rentals; its history and older permit counts should not be read as an open application offer. For a purchase, ask the city whether a new permit or a particular existing approval can be used by you at that address.

Source: Anaheim’s official STR program. The page’s mid-2019 count is historical, not a current availability measure.

Confirm city boundaries first. “Los Angeles” can describe a city, county or postal area, and the City of Los Angeles home-sharing rules do not govern every parcel in Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles: residency, restricted units and permits

Regular home-sharing is limited to the host’s primary residence and 120 days per calendar year. Extended home-sharing requires a separate approval; it does not waive primary residence. The city defines the primary home by living there for more than six months of the year.

• Check the unit’s rent-stabilization, Ellis Act and affordability restrictions; affected units are ineligible.
• Use an approved residential space, resolve open citations and obtain the owner’s notarized authorization if you are a tenant.
• Address the Police Commission Permit requirement, effective July 1, 2024, as well as Planning registration.

Source: current Los Angeles home-sharing FAQ, including updated 2026 administrative-guideline information. Check the application’s governing guidelines and current fee schedule; older $89 fee references are not a current quote.

If you live in one side of a duplex, ownership does not make the other side your primary residence. Resolve that unit-level issue before modeling both sides as vacation rentals.

San Francisco: count resident and unhosted nights

San Francisco generally requires living and sleeping in the same unit at least 275 nights per year, including at least 60 consecutive nights before applying. A person may register only the unit they live in. ADUs, below-market-rate units and several other categories are excluded.

The city permits at most 90 unhosted short-term nights per calendar year. Hosted nights have no numerical annual limit, but the resident and unit must still qualify. Obtain business registration and the host certification; maintain the required $500,000 liability coverage or the qualifying platform alternative.

Source: SF Planning certified-host eligibility. Short ownership periods have a 75% residency test; do not substitute the full-year example for that case.

San Diego: select the license tier before the revenue plan

A second home planned for 70 rental days does not simply fit a “more than 20 days” tier: it would miss the 90-day whole-home utilization requirement. Resolve the operating model before relying on a summer-only plan.

The city’s October 9, 2026 update shows Tier 1–3 applications open and Tier 4 closed. This is dated availability, not a guarantee at your application date. Licenses expire two years after issuance and do not transfer between owners or units. Secure the required tax certificate and owner/occupancy documentation before applying.

Source: current application, renewal and transfer instructions. Quarterly utilization reporting applies to Tier 3/4.

Coastal properties need a second jurisdiction check

The Coastal Act does not create automatic permission to run a vacation rental. Coastal development generally needs the applicable coastal permit unless exempt; certified local coastal programs allocate much of the permitting work to local government, with continuing Commission roles.

1. Identify whether the parcel is inside the coastal zone.
2. Ask the local planning office which certified local coastal program and permit conditions govern this use.
3. Check whether a coastal approval, exemption or Commission review is needed in addition to the business or STR license.

Sources: Coastal Commission local-government resources and coastal-development permit guidance. Do not assume a general statement about visitor access overrides the parcel’s actual rules.

Record both the operating license and any land-use approval in the purchase file. A tax certificate, prior listing or coastal location alone does not demonstrate either approval.

California lodging taxes: verify each channel locally

Transient occupancy tax (TOT) is a local check. Do not apply one statewide “Airbnb tax rate” or assume platform collection covers a direct booking. Ask the collector about taxable cleaning and other mandatory charges, stay-length exemptions, filing frequency and any separate assessments.

Los Angeles’s Office of Finance describes an exception from obtaining a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate when bookings are exclusively through platforms with city withholding agreements. Its compliance guide calls for registration for other operations and monthly reporting. Confirm an existing account’s filing status before stopping returns.

Sources: Los Angeles TOT requirements and official TOT compliance guide. Platform agreements and local registration requirements must be checked separately from Planning approval.

San Diego’s TOT changed May 1, 2025 to 11.75%, 12.75% or 13.75%, depending on zone. An old flat 10.5% assumption will not price a current booking correctly. Verify the unit’s zone and any other applicable charges with the Treasurer.

Source: San Diego’s official tax-change notice. The notice describes TOT, not an all-in cost including every assessment or booking fee.

Keep a channel matrix naming who collects each tax and what you must still file. A payout report’s “taxes” line must be reconciled to the named jurisdiction rather than treated as evidence of universal compliance.

Renewal and ownership changes need separate files

• Los Angeles: registration renews annually; the current FAQ requests compliance records and describes renewal applications beginning 60 days before expiration. Keep booking records for the required three years. Registration is tied to the host’s primary home and is not transferable.
• San Francisco: renew the business registration annually and host certificate every two years; submit required quarterly reports. Reassess eligibility when the resident changes.
• San Diego: the two-year license cannot move to the buyer or a new unit. Do not price the seller’s license as a transferable asset.

Sources: LA renewal FAQ, LA home-sharing code, SF certified-host maintenance and San Diego licensing.

Platform reporting is another enforcement layer, not an operating permit. Napa’s 2026 legislative record describes local reporting under SB 346. The existence of a state reporting framework does not replace the particular city’s ordinance or your property’s approval.

Source: Napa’s 2026 reporting-ordinance record. Check the adopted local measure and its dates before assigning a reporting obligation; no unverified statewide host reporting deadline is asserted here.

California purchase questions that change the decision

California hosted-night and approval worksheet

Use this free, printable worksheet to record the evidence for your property and work through the example with your own assumptions. It is a manual planning aid, not an application or automatic eligibility decision.

Print from your browser or save as PDF. No account or email is needed; entries are not submitted or saved by this site. Recheck the linked agencies before acting on an old copy.

Local guides & next steps

Existing city summaries have their own review dates. Use them to find the local program, then confirm the current rules and your address with the issuing agency.

• Anaheim guide
• Bakersfield guide
• Fresno guide
• Los Angeles guide
• Oakland guide
• Palm Springs guide
• Riverside guide
• Sacramento guide
• San Diego guide
• San Francisco guide
• San Jose guide
• Stockton guide

Once the use is permitted, test ordinary and slow-season bookings, owner-use nights, cleaning per turnover, management, insurance and reserves. The single-family calculator can help compare a longer-term rental alternative using that model’s own rent and costs. It does not determine short-term rental eligibility.

Return to the state laws directory. This guide covers selected jurisdictions, not every municipality in California.

Primary sources sit beside material claims. October 18, 2026 is the source-review date, not the effective date of every rule. General information; obtain an address-specific legal or tax determination where needed.