Assembly Bill 1731 Threatens Short Term Rentals in San Diego County

Assembly bill 1731 is currently pending in the State legislature and could significantly impact short term rentals in San Diego County. This bill, proposed by Assemblywoman Boerner Horvath from Encinitas, if enacted, would permit short term rentals in the San Diego County coastal zones in owner-occupied residential properties only. This means, property owners in the coastal zone who want to …

City of San Diego Repeals Short Term Rental Ordinance

After several months of public upset over the recently enacted Short Term Rental Ordinance O-20977 and O-20978, the San Diego City Council held a special meeting today to determine the fate of the ordinance. The Council was put to a vote on whether the STR Ordinance should be submitted to the public for a vote in an upcoming election, or …

City of San Diego Votes to Restrict Short Term Rentals

After many years of indecision, the City of San Diego finally passed an ordinance to restrict short term rentals on July 16, 2018. In a 6-3 vote, short term rentals are now only permissible in primary residences, and duplexes where the owner resides in one of the units. Primary residences can be rented out for a maximum of 6 months …

City Audits for Non Payment of Transient Occupancy Taxes

Over the last year, I have received an influx of calls from clients who are being audited by the City for failure to pay their transient occupancy taxes for short term rentals conducted in their property. Many of these clients are being audited for non-payment of taxes going back to 2007 which can amount to tens of thousands of dollars …

City Attorney Declares Short Term Rentals Not Permitted in San Diego

On March 15, 2017,San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott issued a memorandum of law declaring that short term vacation rentals in single family residences are not permitted under the Municipal Code. The basis for her position is that the City has a “permissive zoning ordinance” which means that if a particular use is not listed, it is not permitted. Currently …

Sharing Space by Ashley M. Peterson

Article Published in January 2017 edition of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine To counteract the impact on long-term rental availability various jurisdictions are restricting the ability of homeowners and tenants to offer short-term vacation rentals. The concept of blindly renting a room, an apartment, or an entire house to a complete and utter stranger for a day, a week, a month …

Transient Occupancy Taxes – Do I Really Have to Pay Them?

Most cities in San Diego County, and throughout California, impose something called a “transient occupancy tax” (TOT) on “transients,” or persons who occupy a hotel, RV park, campsite or short term rental property for a period of less than 30 days. (**UPDATE: see blog post 6-10-19 for City of San Diego**) This TOT applies to short term vacation rentals under …

No Assignment, Sublease…or Airbnb?

Airbnb is a new internet hosting platform being used by people worldwide to list their residential property, or a room, to short term guests or occupants in exchange for payment. What many landlords don’t know is that Airbnb does NOT restrict the use of the site to title owners of the property. This could potentially create problems for both landlords …