Can You Rent Out Your Property on Airbnb in Los Angeles County? Short-Term Rental Rules Explained

Yes, you can rent out property on Airbnb in Los Angeles County, but the rules depend heavily on exactly where the property sits — the City of Los Angeles, an unincorporated part of the county, or one of the county's 88 other incorporated cities each enforce their own separate short-term rental ordinance, and nearly all of them require the property to be your primary residence rather than a second home or pure investment property. Here's how the rules actually work depending on where your property is, and what can get your listing shut down.

What Are the Short-Term Rental Rules in the City of Los Angeles?

The City of LA's Home-Sharing Ordinance, in effect since November 2019, requires hosts to register through the city's online portal and display a unique registration number on every listing. Only your primary residence — defined as where you live at least six months of the year — qualifies, and the city caps short-term rentals at 120 nights per year unless you obtain an Extended Home-Sharing permit, which requires a clean registration history with no more than one citation in three years. The annual permit fee runs $192 for a regular permit and $1,030 for the extended version, and the city collects a 14% Transient Occupancy Tax automatically through Airbnb on City of LA bookings.

How Are the Rules Different in Unincorporated Los Angeles County?

If your property sits in an unincorporated area of the county rather than inside a city's limits, you're under the county's own short-term rental ordinance instead, which requires you to occupy the property as your primary residence at least 275 days a year and pay a $914 annual registration fee through the Treasurer and Tax Collector. The county's rules split stays into two categories: unhosted stays are capped at 90 nights per year, while hosted stays (where you're present except during work hours) have no annual cap but can't exceed 30 consecutive days. The county charges a 12% Transient Occupancy Tax, which — unlike the city — hosts must self-collect and remit monthly rather than having it handled automatically through the platform.

What Properties Are Never Allowed to Be Listed as Short-Term Rentals?

Under the county's unincorporated-area rules, you cannot register a second home, a pure investment property you don't live in, an ADU or junior ADU, a guesthouse or pool house, or a rent-restricted affordable housing unit as a short-term rental. These restrictions exist specifically to prevent short-term rentals from pulling long-term housing stock out of the market, so if a property doesn't meet the primary-residence test, there's no fee or workaround that makes it eligible.

Do Other Cities Within LA County Have Their Own Separate Rules?

Yes — Los Angeles County contains 88 incorporated cities, including Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Pasadena, and each one enforces its own distinct short-term rental ordinance with its own registration process, caps, and tax rates. There's no countywide short-term rental rule that applies everywhere; the county's ordinance covers only unincorporated areas, so before listing a property anywhere in LA County, you need to confirm the specific jurisdiction it falls under and check that city's rules individually. The county offers a jurisdiction lookup tool to help you determine whether an address is inside city limits or unincorporated territory.

What Happens If You Operate a Short-Term Rental Without Registering?

Operating without a valid registration or permit can result in citations and fines, and repeat violations can lead to legal injunctions, permit revocation, and further legal action against the host. Both the city and county actively monitor listing platforms for unregistered properties, and since registration numbers must be displayed publicly on listings, an unregistered or improperly registered unit is easy for enforcement to spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I short-term rent a property I own but don't live in?
Generally no, both the City of LA and unincorporated LA County require the property to be your primary residence. A pure investment property or second home doesn't qualify under either ordinance.

Does Airbnb collect and pay the occupancy tax for me?
Within the City of Los Angeles, yes — Airbnb has automatically collected and remitted the 14% Transient Occupancy Tax on City listings since 2016. In unincorporated county areas, hosts are responsible for self-collecting and remitting the 12% tax themselves on a monthly basis.

Are there any parts of LA County where short-term rental rules don't apply yet?
A few coastal areas, including Marina del Rey, Santa Catalina Island, and parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, remain temporarily unregulated while awaiting California Coastal Commission certification, though this status can change.

How do I find out which jurisdiction my property falls under?
Los Angeles County provides an online jurisdiction lookup tool where you can enter an address to confirm whether it falls within a specific city's limits or unincorporated county territory, which determines which ordinance and registration process applies.

Updated October 2026.