Short-term rentals in Sonoma County (unincorporated areas), explained properly.

This is Sec. 4-205 S. It speaks to the license standards in Sec. 4-205 (noise, lighting, parking, pets, trash, posting, advertising and the other standards listed there). The license requirement and the certified property manager rule are in other sections.

The Article's license, certified manager and standards apply to vacation rentals as defined here. The definition is built on a term of thirty (30) days or less.

This is Sec. 4-206. The notice goes out after both initial approval and renewal.

Daytime limits are 50 decibels for 30 minutes in any hour, 55 for 15 minutes, 60 for 5 minutes and 65 for 72 seconds. Nighttime limits are 45 decibels for 30 minutes in any hour, 50 for 15 minutes, 55 for 5 minutes and 60 for 72 seconds. Decibels are measured at the property line. Quiet hours of 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. must be stated in every advertisement. The license standards do not apply when the owner occupies the property (Sec. 4-205 S).

Every advertisement must tell guests that no outdoor amplified sound is allowed. The license standards do not apply when the owner occupies the property (Sec. 4-205 S).

Light fixtures must not be located at the periphery of the property and must not reflect off structures. This is Sec. 4-205 C.

This is Sec. 4-205 E.

On-street parking must follow the Sonoma County Parking Regulations and the California Vehicle Code, and guests must follow the County leash law (Sec. 5-115). Bins may not be stored in public view unless in compliance with neighborhood standards. Fireworks as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 12511 may not be possessed or discharged. The maximum number of vehicles allowed on and off site must appear in advertising; the number is set by each license.

The evacuation instructions must identify the evacuation zone and route and include the Calfire Evacuation Checklist, and the radio's operating instructions must be included. The certified property manager must tell guests when a voluntary evacuation order is issued for the zone. These are Sec. 4-205 M, N and O.

Maximum occupancy in advertising does not count children under three (3) years old. Advertising includes handouts, flyers, internet listings and any other information provided for the rental, and it must conform to the license, land use permit and the Article. The occupancy and vehicle numbers are set by each license.

The County may use this contact information to address complaints, convey general program information and serve legal notices about violations and suspension or revocation, so messages and mail must be checked regularly. This is Sec. 4-205 P.

If an online host such as VRBO or Airbnb pays TOT and BIA on the licensee's behalf, the licensee must confirm that the correct amounts are collected and remains liable for any amount not collected. The TOT and BIA rates and the County's tax filing rules haven't been reviewed yet, and this page does not total any taxes. See the California section of this page for the state law behind local lodging taxes.

Sec. 4-210 says fees may cover licensing, license renewal, monitoring and enforcement and may be changed from time to time by resolution. The fee schedule and its effective date haven't been reviewed yet, so confirm current fees with the County Permit and Resource Management Department.

The director of the Permit and Resource Management Department enforces the Article. A responsible party, as defined in County Code Section 1-7, includes the licensee, each property owner, the certified property manager and the tenant, and each is liable for abating a violation, paying associated costs and civil penalties and complying with an order. Chapter 1 hasn't been reviewed yet, so fine amounts aren't shown here.

Grounds: the license or certification was based on inaccurate or incomplete information, the rental operated in nonconformance with the County Code or license, the rental is a nuisance, the certified property manager did not comply with the Article, or the licensee failed to pay fees or civil penalties. The director must send written notice by email and certified mail with the address, license or certification number, reason and appeal rights. An appeal goes to a hearing officer, and failing to appeal in time makes the suspension or revocation final. While a license is suspended the rental cannot operate on the parcel. A revoked certification bars the individual from serving as a certified property manager for up to five (5) years and until a new certification is issued.

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.