Short-term rental rules · Whittier, California
Short-term rentals in Whittier, explained properly.
The City of Whittier regulates short-term rentals through Chapter 5.68 of its Municipal Code (Ordinance No. 3175, history note dated February 24, 2026). An owner needs a City short-term rental permit, a City business license, a transient occupancy tax registration and liability insurance, and the use is allowed only in zones that Title 18 of the code allows, which this page has not checked. The owner must occupy the property for most of the year or live elsewhere in Whittier, and companies and trusts cannot hold permits. A person may hold at most three permits, a property may have at most two rental units, and permitted properties must be at least 300 feet apart. Stays must be at least two nights and no longer than thirty consecutive days. Fines start at $1,000. This page covers the City of Whittier only.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are short-term rentals allowed? | Conditional: only with a City short-term rental permit and only in zones that Title 18 allows for the use; the Title 18 zone list hasn't been reviewed yet [1] ClauseConfirming |
| Is a City short-term rental permit required? | Yes: no one may operate a short-term rental business without a permit; it is personal to the owner, does not run with the land and expires six months after issuance unless renewed [1] Clause |
| Must the owner occupy the property or live elsewhere in Whittier? | Yes: a permit is issued only for a property whose owner occupies it for a majority of the calendar year or has a primary residence elsewhere in the City of Whittier; no permit goes to a corporation, LLC or business trust [1] Clause |
| Is transient occupancy tax payable on each short-term rental occupancy? | Yes: transient occupancy tax under Chapter 3.20 must be paid for each short-term rental occupancy; the rate is not shown in the chapter read [1] Clause |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Operating rules
| Is there a cap on permits per owner and units per property? | Yes: no more than three short-term rental permits to the same person, and no more than two short-term rental units on a single property [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(A) caps permits per person at three, and Sec. 5.68.060(B)(2) caps units per property at two. |
|---|---|
| Is there a minimum distance between permitted short-term rental properties? | Yes: no permitted short-term rental property may be within 300 feet of another, measured from the external property boundaries; if several owners apply within that distance, only the first application approved gets a permit [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(B)(2). The 300-foot figure is written as 'three hundred feet' in the code. |
| Is there a minimum stay? | Yes: a minimum two-night stay for any booking, and no stay may exceed thirty consecutive days (twenty-nine consecutive nights) [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(B)(3). The definition in Sec. 5.68.010 covers rentals of thirty consecutive calendar days or less. Rental of fewer than two nights is a major offense (Sec. 5.68.070(C)). |
| Can accessory dwelling units be used as short-term rentals? | No: accessory and junior accessory dwelling units may not be used as a short-term rental [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(B)(1). |
| Property manager | Required: a property manager who can physically respond within 30 minutes; each adult occupant receives the manager's name and phone number [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(a). The manager may be the owner or another responsible person able to respond in the time. The information is also given to the city business license coordinator and must be kept up to date. Response of thirty to under sixty minutes after a complaint is a minor offense; sixty minutes or more is a major offense (Sec. 5.68.070). |
| Neighbor notice | The owner notifies each adjacent and facing property owner and each adult resident of those properties of the rental and gives a written list of the rules and up-to-date manager contact information [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(b). |
| Occupant rules notice | Every occupant over eighteen receives and signs the City-published list of rules and restrictions, and a copy is posted in a prominent place whenever occupants are present [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(c). Signed lists must be made available to the city on request. |
| Parking | At least one off-street parking space per short-term rental unit; occupants' vehicles go only in an approved driveway, garage or similar structure on the property [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(d). The application diagram must show the required parking (Sec. 5.68.040(B)). |
| Quiet hours | Quiet time runs from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(e). Failure to resolve a noise complaint during quiet time within thirty minutes is a major offense (Sec. 5.68.070(C)). |
| Occupancy limit | Two persons per bedroom plus an additional two persons; children under two do not count [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(f). Exceeding the limit by up to two persons is a minor offense and by more than two persons a major offense (Sec. 5.68.070). |
| Events and parties | Large events, parties, corporate retreats, commercial filming, conferences, weddings and similar gatherings are prohibited at short-term rental properties [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(C)(g). Trash must also be kept in approved containers and out of sight (Sec. 5.68.060(C)(h)). |
| Liability insurance | At least $1,000,000 general aggregate liability insurance, with a certificate filed with the permit application; proof that bookings go solely through a platform providing equal or greater coverage is an alternative [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(F). The code writes the amount as 'one million dollars'. |
| Inspections | The City may conduct random inspections as it deems necessary, including on complaint and before issuing or renewing a permit, consistent with Fourth Amendment rights [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.060(E). |
| Booking platforms | Platforms must require a City business license number in each listing and report listing counts and nights rented to the City quarterly; penalties run $200 a day for the first ten days and $500 a day after [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.090. Reports are due at the end of the month following each calendar quarter. The City may subpoena platform information; the platform notifies the owner within ten business days and produces records within twenty-one days of that notice. Penalties apply per violation for each listing until compliance and may be appealed under Sec. 1.09.070. |
Penalties & enforcement
| Fines and enforcement | Administrative citation: $1,000 for a first offense and $2,000 for a second within twelve months at the same property; a third or later offense in twelve months results in revocation or non-renewal [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.070. Offenses are minor or major as listed there; major offenses include operating without a permit or business license, rental of fewer than two nights, failure to pay transient occupancy tax and criminal activity. A violation is also a public nuisance that may be abated under Chapter 8.08 or state law (Sec. 5.68.100). The amounts are written as 'one thousand dollars' and 'two thousand dollars' in the code. |
|---|---|
| Revocation and renewal | A permit is revoked or not renewed after three major offenses in twelve months, or one major offense deemed egregious; the owner and the property are then barred from a new permit for twelve months [1] Clause Sec. 5.68.080. Revocation of one permit does not affect other permits held by the same owner. Renewal may be denied for any violation in the preceding six months. Revocation or non-renewal may be appealed under Sec. 1.09.070. |
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. |
| Short-term rental rules in the coastal zone | Local short-term rental rules in the coastal zone go through the local coastal program or a coastal development permit; the Coastal Commission has not supported blanket bans [9] Clause 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. |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We read the Whittier Municipal Code title page (supplement current through Ordinance No. 3176, passed March 24, 2026) and Chapter 5.68, Short-term Rental Businesses, as published on Municode on October 16, 2026. We haven't reviewed Title 18 (zoning), Chapter 3.20 (transient occupancy tax), the fee resolution, Chapter 1.09 or any City Council agendas yet, so we will watch the Code and those documents for changes.
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.