City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Los Angeles, CA
How Los Angeles regulates short-term rentals: the rules that apply, their sources, and pending changes.
Rules here limit which homes may operate as short-term rentals, how many, where, or for how many nights a year.
- Primary-residence-only: Home-Sharing is permitted only as an accessory use of the host's Primary Residence (the one place the host lives >6 months/yr), so non-owner-occupied / dedicated whole-home STRs are effectively prohibited — a hard SUPPLY constraint.
- 120-day annual cap on home-sharing unless the host obtains an Extended Home-Sharing registration; Extended registration lifts the day-cap but retains the primary-residence limitation.
- Registration mandatory (Home-Sharing Registration Number required on all listings), TOT collection, and platform-accountability rules.
- Steep enforcement: minimum $2,000/day fine (or 2x nightly rent) for operating beyond limits.
- Coastal-zone parcels (e.g., Venice, San Pedro, Pacific Palisades) implicate the CA Coastal Act / Local Coastal Program overlay, but the citywide primary-residence rule is in force.
Based on: Home-Sharing Ordinance No. 185,931, codified at LAMC §12.22 A.32 (adopted Dec 11, 2018; effective July 1, 2019), with
Summary of the rule
Home-Sharing is an accessory use of the host's Primary Residence only (Primary Residence = the one dwelling the host occupies for more than 6 months of the year); non-primary-residence STRs are prohibited.
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Last reviewed Sep 9, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Los Angeles · system last checked Oct 25, 2026
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A city permit is not the whole picture — HOA, condominium, deed, or lease rules may be stricter.
City Watch provides good-faith summaries of publicly available information as of the review date shown. Rules, enforcement, and permit availability can change, and summaries may contain errors or omissions. Ratings describe the general regulatory environment; they do not establish whether a particular property or stay is permitted. This is general information, not legal advice. Before buying, listing, or hosting, verify applicable requirements with the responsible authorities and review any HOA, condominium, deed, or lease restrictions.