Short-term rentals in Indio, explained properly.

Sec. 37.005(D) requires a board letter for a property in a homeowners' or community association. For a property subject to CC&Rs but not in an association, the applicant submits the CC&Rs and identifies the provisions showing short-term rentals are neither regulated nor clearly prohibited. Sec. 37.008(B)(6) lets the Permit Administrator deny, revoke, suspend or modify a permit where evidence shows governing documents prohibit short-term rental use. Sec. 37.001(B) says the chapter gives no right to violate private CC&Rs. State law on HOA rules is covered in the California section of this page.

Sec. 37.015(C), (D), (H) and (I) prohibit renting or advertising structures not built for habitable use and any mobile or temporary lodging on the same property as the short-term rental, and prohibit the owner, lessee or renter of a mobile home, manufactured or prefabricated house, commercial or industrial structure or recreational vehicle from using it as a short-term rental. Sec. 37.015(A) bars renting a balcony, patio, pool or other outdoor area unless it is rented with the rest of the dwelling.

Sec. 37.015(E) prohibits a short-term rental cluster or compound. Sec. 37.002 defines a cluster or compound as two or more short-term rentals operated on a unified or shared basis where occupants have exclusive access to more than one unit or its facilities, such as a pool, tennis court or cooking facilities.

Sec. 37.010 says an invalid permit is the same as no permit. Applications received after the 60-day deadline but before expiry may be accepted at the Permit Administrator's discretion. Renewals are processed like new applications, are subject to intervening changes in the chapter, and are denied if the rental no longer qualifies. A renewal not filed and paid by expiry must be filed as a new application with an application fee and a late penalty fee.

Sec. 37.006(A) requires a city-staff inspection for every new permit application and every five years for the same permit if the owner has complied, and lets the city require an inspection at any renewal. Sec. 37.006(C) says the inspection is scheduled within 30 days of a completed application and corrections must be made within 30 days of notice. Sec. 37.006(B) bars a permit if the unit lacks working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, HVAC, electricity or plumbing, or has unpermitted structural changes. The inspection fee is set by City Council resolution (Sec. 37.005(G)).

Sec. 37.005(C) lists the items, including a copy of the owner's driver's license or state ID. Sec. 37.005(E) requires an affidavit signed under penalty of perjury. Sec. 37.005(G) requires a signed consent to building, fire and health and safety inspection. The city has up to 30 days to process the application and no permit issues until the investigation is complete; the city verifies bedroom count against County Assessor and city building records (Sec. 37.007). Within 30 days of issuance the city mails notice to owners and occupants within 500 feet of the parcel (Sec. 37.008(E)).

Sec. 37.005(F) requires proof of insurance at initial and renewal issuance, to stay in effect for the annual permit term. Failure to maintain liability insurance results in suspension of the permit.

Sec. 37.005(B) says the application fee and the annual renewal fee are established by resolution of the City Council. Sec. 37.005(G) sets the inspection fee by resolution, and Sec. 37.017(B) sets a non-refundable appeal fee by resolution. A reinspection fee may apply (Sec. 37.006(C)). A late renewal adds a late penalty fee (Sec. 37.010(E)). The resolution and its effective date haven't been reviewed yet.

Sec. 37.002 defines the local contact person and requires residence in the Coachella Valley. Sec. 37.012(H) sets the response times, applies the same times when the city contacts the local contact person, and requires an in-person response to complaints of unreasonable noise, disturbances or disorderly conduct. Sec. 37.012(G) requires the permit, the local contact's name and phone number and a city notice to be posted near the primary entrance inside the rental. Sec. 37.002 separately defines the local contact person as responding in person within 30 minutes, which differs from the 15-minute phone or text and 45-minute in-person times in Sec. 37.012(H); the code does not reconcile the two, so confirm the response time with the City.

Sec. 37.012(I) bars sound that is audible outside the rental beyond the property line during those hours, and bars music amplified inside from being heard beyond the property line at any time of day or night; occupants must also meet Chapter 95C of the Municipal Code. Sec. 37.012(J) bars outdoor amenities, outdoor games and noisy outdoor activity in the same hours and requires a sign at any spa or pool and on interior doors leading to outdoor amenities.

Sec. 37.012(C) sets the minimum age of renter. The responsible person, who signs the contract and is legally responsible for all occupants, must also complete an informational form and an acknowledgment form (Sec. 37.012(E) and (F)).

Sec. 37.012(O) requires the format and, for audio-only advertising, requires the permit number to be read aloud. Sec. 37.012(Q) requires all internet listing sites and listing numbers to be submitted to the city within 30 days of permit approval and revisions after that.

Sec. 37.012(E) and (F) set the informational form (identification, occupant names, vehicle and license plate details) and the acknowledgment form, which says the responsible person must be present at the property for the rental period. Sec. 37.012(D) requires short-term rental contracts to be kept three years from occupancy and to state the exact number of occupants and the city rules on occupancy, noise, amplified music, nuisance, parking, trash and commercial activity. Sec. 37.019 requires all written records to be kept three years.

Sec. 37.012(K) to (N) set the trash, commercial vehicle, commercial activity and residential-character rules. Sec. 37.015(B) bars charging a fee or requiring a donation for entrance into a short-term rental. Sec. 37.015(K) bars commercial activities and special events, including weddings, receptions, large parties and sales events, unless a special event permit is obtained. Sec. 37.012(R) lets the Permit Administrator modify operating standards for a reasonable accommodation under state or federal disability law. Sec. 37.008(C) lets the Permit Administrator add permit conditions, such as a noise monitoring device or occupancy counting device.

Sec. 37.013 has the city keep an online registry of active permits that platforms may rely on. Sec. 37.014 sets the platform duties; a platform that operates exclusively on the internet and complies with subsections (A), (B) and (C) is presumed to be in compliance with the chapter, and the section does not apply where the city determines it is preempted by state or federal law. See the California section for the state Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act.

Sec. 37.018(A) prohibits operating without a valid permit and treats advertising as prima facie evidence of operation. Sec. 37.018(B) lets the city act against the owner, responsible person, occupants and local contact. Sec. 37.018(C) to (E) make a violation a misdemeanor, allow an administrative citation, and make a violation a public nuisance subject to abatement. The remedies are in addition to other legal remedies (Sec. 37.018(F)). Sec. 37.018 was last amended by Ord. 1809 on 2-21-2024.

Sec. 37.016(A) and (B) set the grounds, and (B) also allows revocation for any single violation. Sec. 37.016(C) bars a new application until one year after revocation. Sec. 37.016(D) requires written notice within ten days to owners and occupants within 500 feet when a permit is suspended, revoked or denied. Sec. 37.008(B) lists the grounds for denial, revocation, suspension or modification, including a prior suspension or revocation or a citation within the past 12 months, unpaid fines, and enforcement proceedings pending at the time of application.

Sec. 37.017 says the rental may not operate and the permit is not valid while an appeal is pending. Nearby owners and occupants within 500 feet are notified of the hearing and may testify. A late appeal or unpaid appeal fee makes the decision final.

Sec. 37.004(A) and Sec. 37.012(P) require compliance with the transient occupancy tax ordinance, including a return under Sec. 34.41 filed even if the rental was not rented during the reporting period. Sec. 37.014(A) makes hosting platforms responsible for collecting and remitting the tax. Chapter 34 itself, with the tax rate and due dates, hasn't been reviewed yet, so no tax rate or combined total is shown. State law lets cities tax stays of 30 days or less (see the California section).

California Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 lets the legislative body of any city, county, or city and county levy a tax on the privilege of occupying a room or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging, unless the stay is longer than 30 days. A county's tax applies only in its unincorporated areas. The rate, registration and filing rules are set by each city or county, so the local tax is shown in the city's own section of this page.

Government Code sections 50990 to 50996 (Senate Bill 346, 2025) apply only in a city or county that adopts an ordinance making them apply. Where they apply, a booking platform must, on the local agency's request, report the physical address with nine-digit ZIP code of each short-term rental it facilitated (no more often than every 3 months, or monthly if the local tax is remitted monthly), and must include in each listing any applicable local license number and any transient occupancy tax certification issued by the local agency. The local agency may fine a platform that does not report. The act does not stop a city or county from regulating short-term rentals, platforms or tax collection in other ways.

Government Code section 66333(g) requires a city's junior accessory dwelling unit ordinance to require that a rental of a junior ADU be for a term longer than 30 days (as amended by Assembly Bill 1154, in force January 1, 2026). Section 66323(e) requires a city to require that a rental of an ADU created under that section (the ministerial, by-right approvals) be for a term longer than 30 days. For other ADUs on a lot with a single-family home, section 66315 bars standards beyond section 66314, including owner occupancy, except that a city may require that the property be used for rentals of terms 30 days or longer. Cities can be stricter in their own codes; see the city section.

Civil Code section 4741 says an owner in a common interest development is not subject to a governing-document provision that prohibits, has the effect of prohibiting, or unreasonably restricts renting or leasing a separate interest, ADU or junior ADU, and an association may not cap rentals below 25 percent of the separate interests. The same section says it does not prohibit an association from adopting and enforcing a provision that prohibits transient or short-term rental of a separate property interest for 30 days or less. Check your association's governing documents.

Civil Code section 1940 applies the chapter on hiring of real property (Civil Code sections 1940 to 1954.071) to tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers and others who hire dwelling units, but excludes a person in transient occupancy in a hotel, motel, residence club or other facility when the stay is or would be subject to a transient occupancy tax under Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 (stays of 30 days or less). Stays longer than that are not covered by this exclusion.

In a December 6, 2016 letter to coastal cities and counties, the California Coastal Commission said that regulating short-term or vacation rentals in the coastal zone must happen within the local coastal program or under a coastal development permit, because it changes the intensity of use and access to the shoreline and so counts as development under the Coastal Act. The Commission said it does not believe outright bans adopted outside that process are legally enforceable in the coastal zone, that it has not historically supported blanket bans, and that it has supported limits such as caps on numbers by area, limits on days, occupancy limits, 24-hour response, parking, noise and signage rules and payment of transient occupancy tax. This applies only to places inside the coastal zone.