Short-term rental rules · West Hollywood, California
Short-term rentals in West Hollywood, explained properly.
West Hollywood's Home Sharing chapter lets a host rent a room or part of a room in their own primary residence for 30 days or less while living there during the stay, with a City home sharing business license. The host must live in the home at least 270 days a year, show proof of primary residency and a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate, and have written approval from the property owner and homeowners' association. Home sharing is barred in rental units, in income-restricted housing, in places not approved for residential use, and at properties subject to the Ellis Act within the prior 7 years. Hosts must carry $500,000 of liability insurance (unless a platform covers it), show the license number in every ad, and respond to officials by phone within 1 hour. We haven't reviewed the zoning definition of a vacation rental (Sec. 19.90.020) or the transient occupancy tax chapter (Chapter 3.32) yet, so confirm zoning and tax 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: Chapter 5.66 covers home sharing only, meaning a room or part of a room in the host's primary residence rented for 30 days or less while the host lives there during the stay, and only with a City home sharing business license; the zoning definition of a vacation rental and the tax chapter haven't been reviewed [1] ClauseConfirming |
| Is a City home sharing business license required? | Yes: no one may offer, facilitate or conduct home sharing at a property without a valid City business license to conduct home sharing at that property; the application needs proof of primary residency and a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate [1] Clause |
| Must the owner live on the property? | Yes: the licensee must live in the home as a primary residence (at least 270 days a year) and must reside in the unit during the entirety of the guests' stay [1] Clause |
| Must hosts pay transient occupancy tax? | Yes: a host must hold a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate and remit all transient occupancy taxes in full when due under Chapter 3.32; the rate is not shown here [1] ClauseConfirming |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Eligibility and where home sharing is allowed
| Must the home be the host's primary residence? | Yes: home sharing takes place in the host's primary residence, a unit the owner or leaseholder lives in at least 270 days a year; a host can have only one primary residence [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.010 defines home sharing as renting a room or part of a room in a primary residence, and defines a primary residence as a residential unit in which the owner or leaseholder resides for at least 270 days per year. A host can have only one primary residence. The license application must include proof of primary residency at the address and the names and contact information of everyone who uses the unit as a primary residence (Sec. 5.66.030). |
|---|---|
| What counts as home sharing? | Renting or offering for rent a room or part of a room in a primary residence for 30 days or less while the owner or leaseholder lives in the unit during the guest's stay [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.010 defines a host as a natural person who engages in home sharing and a guest as a transient as defined in Section 3.32.020. Rent means transferring any good, service or other thing of value for the use of all or part of a dwelling for home sharing. A short term rental platform is any internet-enabled application, mobile application, website or other digital platform used to connect guests with hosts. Whether a whole-home rental while the host is away is allowed isn't answered by this chapter; the zoning definition of a vacation rental (Sec. 19.90.020) hasn't been reviewed yet. |
| Is home sharing prohibited in some homes? | Yes: it is not allowed without written owner and homeowners' association approval, in any rental unit, in inclusionary or other income-restricted housing, in any location not approved for residential use (such as a vehicle, trailer, tent, storage shed or garage), or at a property subject to the Ellis Act within the prior 7 years [1] Clause These are the prohibitions in Sec. 5.66.020, which also bars home sharing at any property without a valid home sharing business license. The Ellis Act lookback is seven years. Sec. 5.66.100 adds that nothing in the chapter limits a common interest development's ability to prohibit home sharing or enforce its covenants, conditions and restrictions. |
| Can a tenant host home sharing in a rental unit? | Conditional: Sec. 5.66.020(2) says home sharing is not allowed in any rental unit, but the definitions of home sharing and primary residence refer to an owner or leaseholder who lives in the unit; the two clauses conflict [1] ClauseConfirming The chapter's definitions let a leaseholder host from a primary residence, while Sec. 5.66.020(2) bars home sharing in any rental unit. The sources conflict and no reading is chosen here; confirm with the City whether a tenant may apply for the license, and see the written approval rule for the owner and association consent that is also required. |
| Is written approval from the owner and homeowners' association required? | Yes: home sharing may not take place in a residential dwelling unit where the property owner and homeowners' association haven't given express written approval [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.020(1) sets the approval requirement. Under Sec. 5.66.080, an owner or association that gave written approval may revoke it by written notice to the licensee and the City; that doesn't revoke the license but disqualifies it from renewal until written approval is given again. Sec. 5.66.100 keeps a common interest development's own power to prohibit home sharing. |
Operating rules
| Is there an occupancy limit? | Yes: during home sharing the unit may have at most two people more than twice the number of bedrooms listed on city or county records [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.050(8) sets the maximum occupancy; for example, a unit listed with one bedroom has a maximum of four people. The bedroom count comes from city or county records. |
|---|---|
| How fast must the licensee respond when officials call? | By telephone within 1 hour, and in person on site within a reasonable period, when contacted by law enforcement, the fire department or another city official [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.050(2) sets the response duty and Sec. 5.66.050(3) requires the licensee to update the Code Compliance Division in writing immediately if contact information changes. Because the licensee must live in the unit during the stay, the response duty rests on the host. |
| Must hosts carry liability insurance? | Yes: liability insurance of $500,000, unless the host uses only a short term rental platform that provides equal or greater coverage [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.050(13) sets the amount and the platform-coverage alternative. |
| What signs and safety equipment are required? | A sign inside every exterior door, working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, an operable fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and posted emergency exit routes in multi-family structures of more than one story [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.050(4) requires the sign to list the dwelling unit address, the licensee's name and phone number, and emergency and non-emergency contact numbers for the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department, Fire Department and Code Compliance Division. Detectors must meet the West Hollywood Building Code (Sec. 5.66.050(5)). Exit routes go on the inside of any exterior door for units in multi-family structures of more than one story (Sec. 5.66.050(6)). The extinguisher must be easy to reach (Sec. 5.66.050(7)). |
| Must the license number appear in every advertisement? | Yes: every advertisement must prominently display the West Hollywood home sharing business license number [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.040 makes a host who creates or maintains an advertisement without the number in violation of the chapter. The application must also list the URL of every advertisement (Sec. 5.66.030). |
| What other conditions apply while hosting? | No home sharing under an open Notice of Violation for a health and safety violation or while the unit has rodents, roaches, bedbugs, mold or other pests; clean bedding and towels for guests; no West Hollywood visitor on-street parking passes for guests [1] Clause These are Sec. 5.66.050(9), (10), (11) and (12). |
| What records must the licensee keep? | Records of home sharing activity as Chapter 3.32 requires; guest identification and contact information may be redacted from records sent to the City unless an audit under Chapter 3.32 has started [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.060(1) and (2). Chapter 3.32 hasn't been reviewed yet, so what the records must contain isn't shown here. Sec. 5.66.090 gives the City power to use all legal options to gather information and enforce the code, including subpoenas. |
Penalties and enforcement
| What happens when a guest or the host breaks the rules? | The licensee is responsible for administrative citations for municipal code violations by guests; violations of the chapter are subject to the administrative penalty provisions of Secs. 1.08.030 through 1.08.070 [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.070(1) and (2). Chapter 1.08 hasn't been reviewed yet, so fine amounts aren't shown here. |
|---|---|
| Can the home sharing license be revoked? | Yes: two or more violations of the chapter, or any noise or nuisance violations from home sharing, in any 365-day period may bring immediate revocation and denial of renewal; fraud on the application means immediate revocation and a 6-month bar on reapplying [1] Clause Sec. 5.66.070(3) allows immediate revocation (appealable under Chapter 5.08) and disallowing renewal of the business license (appealable to the Department Director, whose decision is appealable under Chapter 5.08). Under Sec. 5.66.070(4), a fraud revocation may be appealed to the Director by written request within 30 calendar days of the revocation letter, and the revocation is final if no appeal is filed in time. While an appeal is pending the licensee may not engage in home sharing or short term rental activities. |
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 [2] 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) [3] 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 [4] [5] [6] 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 [7] 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 [8] 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 Chapter 5.66 (Home Sharing) of the West Hollywood Municipal Code and the code's table of contents as published on eCode360 and captured October 18, 2026. The code includes legislation through Ord. No. 26-11 adopted June 29, 2026. The chapter's history notes cite Ord. 18-1024 (2018) and Ord. 24-33 (11/18/2024). We haven't reviewed the zoning definition of a vacation rental (Sec. 19.90.020), the transient occupancy tax chapter (Chapter 3.32), the penalty chapter (Chapter 1.08), the fee schedule or City Council agendas yet, so we will watch the Code and those pages for changes.
The history notes show Ord. 24-33, dated 11/18/2024, on every section of Chapter 5.66 (Secs. 5.66.010 to 5.66.100) alongside Ord. 18-1024 (2018). What the 2024 ordinance changed isn't shown in the captured text.
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.