Short-term rental rules · Nevada City, California
Short-term rentals in Nevada City, explained properly.
The City of Nevada City, California permits hosted short-term rentals, meaning rentals of all or part of a unit for less than 30 days, by the owner of a single-family property within all residential zones. The owner must register the property with the City every year before offering any unit, and the City processes a full and complete application ministerially. No more than 2 units on a property may be rented at the same time, the owner or a manager must live at the property or in Nevada County, and no more than 1 vehicle per unit is allowed during a rental. Rentals must meet building and sanitation codes, pay the City's transient occupancy tax under Chapter 3.24, give neighbors a courtesy notice and give renters the City's Conduct Guidelines. Commercial meetings and gatherings for compensation are not allowed. The rules come from a 2015 voter initiative (Ordinance 2015-12). We haven't reviewed the zoning use tables, the registration fee, the tax rate or the penalty chapter, so confirm zoning and fees with the City before you buy.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are short-term rentals allowed? | Conditional: only hosted short-term rentals by the Owner of a single-family Property are permitted, within all residential zones, with annual City registration; at most 2 Units may be rented at the same time [1] [2] Clause 1 Clause 2Confirming |
| Is annual City registration required? | Yes: the Owner must register the Property with the City every year before offering any Unit for hosted short-term rental; the City must process a full and complete application ministerially [2] Clause |
| Must the owner live on the property? | No: the Owner or the Manager (an agent of the Owner) must reside at the Property or in Nevada County, so an Owner who lives elsewhere can name a Manager who lives in the County [2] ClauseConfirming |
| How many units can be rented at the same time? | Yes, there is a limit: no more than 2 Units within a Property may be rented or offered for rent at the same time [2] Clause |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Operating rules
| Vehicle limit during rentals | No more than 1 vehicle per Unit is allowed during each hosted short-term rental [2] Clause Sec. 17.72.080.B.5. The limit applies to rentals under this section and counts vehicles per rented Unit. |
|---|---|
| Events | Commercial meetings such as luncheons, parties, weddings and charitable fundraising, or other gatherings for direct or indirect compensation, are not allowed [2] Clause Sec. 17.72.080.B.8. The Owner and Manager must also comply with all applicable provisions of the Code and other applicable law, and the section does not authorize any activity otherwise prohibited by applicable law. |
| Building and sanitation standards | Units must comply with all applicable building and similar codes, including providing all required sanitation facilities [2] Clause Sec. 17.72.080.B.4. The building code chapters that apply haven't been reviewed. |
| Neighbor notice and conduct guidelines | The Owner or Manager must distribute a courtesy neighborhood notice before the first hosted rental, and give renters the City's Conduct Guidelines before or when they occupy the unit [2] Clause Sec. 17.72.080.B.9 and B.10. The notice must state the intent to provide hosted short-term rentals and how renters will access the residence. The Conduct Guidelines are set by the City of Nevada City; their content hasn't been reviewed. |
| Lodging tax (transient occupancy tax) | The Owner or Manager must comply with Chapter 3.24 of the Code, including paying all applicable transient occupancy tax; we haven't reviewed Chapter 3.24, so no rate is shown [2] ClauseConfirming Sec. 17.72.080.B.6 requires compliance with Chapter 3.24. The tax rate, filing schedule and any platform collection rules are in that chapter, which hasn't been reviewed. California's state-level rule on local transient occupancy taxes is shown in the California section. |
Penalties & enforcement
| Penalty for violations | A violation of the section is a public nuisance, in addition to any other applicable remedies; fine amounts are in other code chapters we haven't reviewed [2] ClauseConfirming Sec. 17.72.080.B.8 makes any violation of the section a public nuisance in addition to any other applicable remedies. The remedies and any fine amounts are in other chapters (for example Chapter 17.124, Penalties) that haven't been reviewed. |
|---|
State law that also applies
| Who sets lodging taxes on short stays in California? | Each city or county: state law lets them levy a transient occupancy tax on stays of 30 days or less [3] Clause 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. |
|---|---|
| Can cities make booking platforms report rentals and show local license numbers? | Yes, where the city or county opts in by ordinance (Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2025, in force January 1, 2026) [4] Clause 1 Clause 2 Clause 3 Clause 4 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. |
| Short-term rentals in ADUs and junior ADUs under state law | Junior ADUs, and ADUs approved under the state's by-right path, must be rented for more than 30 days; for other ADUs a city may require 30-day-plus rentals [5] [6] [7] Clause 1 Clause 2 Clause 3 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. |
| Can an HOA or condo association ban short-term rentals? | Yes: associations may prohibit rentals of 30 days or less, though they cannot ban or unreasonably restrict longer rentals [8] Clause 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. |
| Are short-stay guests covered by California landlord-tenant law? | Not by the Civil Code chapter on renting homes while the stay is subject to a local occupancy tax [9] Clause 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. |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We read Section 17.72.080 (Hosted short-term rentals) of the Nevada City Municipal Code and the code's table of contents on Municode, as saved on October 18, 2026 (code version September 4, 2026). The section's history note cites Ordinance 2015-12, adopted December 9, 2015. We haven't reviewed the zoning use tables, Chapter 3.24 (transient occupancy tax), the penalty chapter, the registration form and fee, or City Council agendas yet, so we will watch the Code and the City's pages for changes.
Section 17.72.080 was adopted without change as an initiative measure certified to the City Council on November 18, 2015 (Elections Code section 9215); the section's history note shows Ordinance 2015-12 on December 9, 2015. An earlier version adopted by Ordinance 94-04 was repealed by Measure F in November 1994.
Sources
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.