Short-term rentals in Windsor, explained properly.

Sec. 3-23-120(d) makes the license non-transferable and tied to the described site. Sec. 3-23-150(e) lists a transfer or attempt to transfer a license to another person, entity or property as a ground for revocation.

Sec. 3-23-120(d). The fire safety inspection is also required for an STR license renewal (Sec. 3-23-140(e)). The Director may deny a renewal for the reasons listed in Sec. 3-23-120(e).

Sec. 3-23-140(e) and (i). The chapter also requires compliance with all requirements of the Sonoma County Fire District.

Sec. 3-23-140(a). Advertising is defined to include internet websites, social media and mobile applications. Non-hosted rentals that operated under the grandfather period were not required to post a license number because they were not eligible for one (Sec. 3-23-130(b)).

Sec. 3-23-140(b) and (c). The host must update the posted rules immediately when any information changes.

Sec. 3-23-140(j). For a hosted short-term rental the owner must be present at the property during those hours.

Sec. 3-23-140(l). The maximum occupancy goes on the license application, calculated under Sec. 3-23-140(l).

Sec. 3-23-140(h). The license application includes a site plan identifying all off-street and on-street parking for the rental.

Sec. 3-23-140(f). The host is responsible for making sure everyone present at the rental complies with the operating standards.

Sec. 3-23-140(p). Younger individuals may stay in the home with the person making the reservation.

Sec. 3-23-140(k) and (m). The camera must let the host or manager remotely monitor the number of people entering the home and activity in the front yard.

Sec. 3-23-140(o). The response can be by contacting the tenants or by being physically present. The owner must immediately notify the Town and occupants of all properties within 300 feet if the owner, host or manager contact information changes (Sec. 3-23-140(r)).

Sec. 3-23-140(n).

Sec. 3-23-170. Health-or-safety violations may be fined up to $1,500 per violation for a first violation, $3,000 for a second violation of the same regulation and $5,000 for all subsequent violations of the same regulation within one calendar year; each instance of non-compliance is a separate violation. A violation that does not threaten health or safety, including a first violation of failing to obtain an STR license or pay a fee or tax, is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 per violation. Fines may be issued administratively, and the Town may charge the higher amounts if Government Code section 36900 is amended to allow them.

Sec. 3-23-150 lists the revocation grounds. Sec. 3-23-160: a request for hearing form and any appeal fee must be filed within fifteen calendar days from service of the decision; the hearing is set not less than fifteen and not more than sixty calendar days after the request; the hearing officer issues a written decision within fifteen calendar days of the hearing unless good cause extends the time, and that decision is final. The Town carries the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.

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.