Is Airbnb Legal in West Hollywood? 2026 Rules, Permits & Taxes

License required

Yes

Taxes on a stay

12.5%

Fine for hosting without a permit

$5,000

Listings showing a permit number

82%

Latest rule change

Oct 13, 2025

Listing figures: AirROI, 12 months to September 2026. A number on a listing doesn't prove the permit or license is valid, and a missing one doesn't prove there is none.

The rules in brief

Who needs it

A property owner who wants to host a guest for compensation for less than 31 days in the home where the owner lives.^3,4,11

Issued by

City of West Hollywood, Neighborhood and Business Safety Division

Valid for

Renewable through the city; the city can refuse renewal after two or more violations in any 365-day period, or if the owner's or association's written approval is withdrawn.

On listings

The number must appear on every listing

Platform checks

The license number must appear in every advertisement. A hosting platform may not complete a booking for a vacation rental in the city when it takes a fee, and licensed home sharing is exempt from that ban.

Who qualifies

• Own the unit and live in it during the guests' entire stay
• The home is the owner's primary residence, where the owner lives at least 270 days a year; a host can have only one
• Only a room or part of a room is rented, and the unit is not a rental unit or income-restricted housing
• The property owner and the homeowners' association have given written approval
• No Ellis Act removal at the property in the prior seven years
• A Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate and proof of identity, ownership and residency

How to apply

1. 1 Confirm the home is your primary residence, you own it and you will be present for every stay, and get written approval from the association if the building has one.
2. 2 Register for the hotel tax and obtain a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate from the city.
3. 3 Apply on the city's Home Sharing Business License registration page with proof of identity, ownership and residency and the web address of every advertisement.
4. 4 Put the license number in every ad, install the door sign, detectors and kitchen extinguisher, and carry $500,000 of liability insurance or book only through a platform that provides equal coverage.
5. 5 File and pay the hotel tax each month through the city's Registration and Tax Payment Portal.

Permit rules

Home Sharing Business License required

A property owner who hosts a guest for compensation for less than 31 days needs a valid Home Sharing Business License for the property before offering or conducting home sharing.^3,11

Transient occupancy registration comes first

The license application must include proof that the host holds a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate from the city, so the host registers for the hotel tax before applying.^3,6

License number in every advertisement

Every advertisement for home sharing must prominently display the West Hollywood home sharing business license number, and a host who runs an ad without it violates the chapter.³

Listings may not falsely claim a West Hollywood address

Advertising a vacation rental as being in West Hollywood when it stands outside the city is itself a violation of the vacation rental ban.⁴

Advertised price must include mandatory fees

Since July 1, 2024, California's Honest Pricing Law (SB 478) has barred advertising a short-term rental price that leaves out mandatory fees; government taxes and fees may be listed separately.⁹ In force since July 1, 2024

Platforms may not book banned rentals for a fee

A hosting platform may not complete a booking for a vacation rental in the city when it receives a fee for the booking; licensed home sharing is exempt from the ban, and a platform that follows the rule is presumed to comply.⁴

Vacation rentals under 31 days are banned

No one may offer, facilitate or provide a vacation rental to a transient, or advertise one, and a transient stay is any stay of less than 31 days. The only exception is home sharing licensed under chapter 5.66 of the business license code.^4,10

The owner must live in the unit during every stay

The licensee must reside in the dwelling unit for the guests' entire stay, and the code defines residing as being present in the unit at least four hours in every 24-hour period.^3,11

Home sharing means a room or part of a room

Home sharing is defined as renting a room or part of a room in a primary residence for 30 days or less while the owner is in the unit during the guest's stay.³

The home must be the host's primary residence

A primary residence is a unit where the owner lives at least 270 days a year, and a host can have only one primary residence.³

Rental units and tenants are excluded

Home sharing is not allowed in any rental unit, and the city issues the license to property owners only, who must provide proof of identity, ownership and residency.^3,11

No home sharing in income-restricted housing

Home sharing is not allowed in an inclusionary or other income-restricted housing unit.³

No home sharing after an Ellis Act removal

Home sharing is not allowed at a property that has been subject to the Ellis Act within the prior seven years.³

Owner and HOA must approve in writing

Home sharing may not take place in a residential unit unless the property owner and the homeowners' association have given express written approval.³

An association can still ban it

A common interest development may prohibit home sharing or enforce its own covenants, conditions and restrictions regardless of the city license.³

Dwellings need an initial lease of at least one year

Outside licensed home sharing, a West Hollywood dwelling unit must be occupied by its owner or leased for an initial term of at least one year, and since January 1, 2025 that includes condominiums and single-family homes, so furnished stays of 31 days to under a year are not allowed.^4,7 In force since January 1, 2025

Occupancy cap tied to bedrooms

During home sharing the unit may hold at most two people more than twice the number of bedrooms listed on city or county records.³

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and a kitchen extinguisher

The unit must have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as the West Hollywood Building Code requires, and an operable fire extinguisher in an easily accessible place in the kitchen.³

Sign inside every exterior door

A sign inside every exterior door must list the unit's address, the licensee's name and phone number, and emergency and non-emergency numbers for the Sheriff's Department, Fire Department and Code Compliance Division; units in multi-family buildings of more than one story must also post exit routes.³

$500,000 of liability insurance

Hosts must carry $500,000 of liability insurance unless they book only through a short-term rental platform that provides equal or greater coverage.³

Respond within one hour

The licensee must respond by phone within one hour, and on site within a reasonable period, when contacted by law enforcement, the fire department or another city official.³

The host answers for guests' violations

The licensee is held responsible for administrative citations for municipal code violations committed by home sharing guests, and two or more violations of the chapter, or any noise or nuisance violations arising from home sharing, in a 365-day period can lead to revocation of the license.³

The ban can only be made stricter

Under the current code the City Council may amend the vacation rental ban only to increase, enhance or expand its restrictions, so a loosening would need a different route than a council vote.⁴

Hotel tax is paid after each reporting period

The hotel tax is due to the city on or before the last day of the month following each reporting period, and the city's Home Sharing License page has licensees pay it monthly, directly, through its Registration and Tax Payment Portal.^11,12

State law lets cities tax stays of up to 30 days

California lets any city levy a transient occupancy tax on occupancy of a room or other living space in a hotel, tourist home or house or other lodging unless the stay is longer than 30 days.¹

Median nightly rate, booked nights

$225

Taxes on that night (12.5%)

$28

Guest pays, before Airbnb and cleaning fees

$253

What the host still handles

• A Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate from the city, required before the Home Sharing Business License application (West Hollywood Municipal Code chapter 3.32)
• The Home Sharing Business License itself, applied for through the city's registration page
• Monthly hotel tax returns and payments through the city's Registration and Tax Payment Portal, due by the last day of the month after the reporting period
• Records of home sharing activity as chapter 3.32 requires^{6,11,12,14,15,16}

• Unlicensed vacation rental: citations to all responsible parties start at 400% of the advertised rental rate (nightly rate times the minimum nights) and rise to 600% and 800% for a second and third offense, plus a $75 administrative fee; ads with no listed price are fined $1,000, then $2,500, then $5,000. Continued violations can be referred to the City Prosecutor.¹⁰
• Criminal penalty: a host, a person who facilitates a violation, or a platform that breaches its duties commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in County Jail, or both.⁵
• Anyone found in violation of the vacation rental ban in a criminal, civil or administrative case must reimburse the city and participating law enforcement agencies their full investigative costs and pay all back hotel tax.⁵
• Any interested person, such as a neighbor, may sue for an injunction against a violation of the vacation rental ban, and the winner recovers reasonable costs and attorney's fees.⁵
• Licensed hosts: two or more violations of the home sharing chapter, or any noise or nuisance violations arising from home sharing, in any 365-day period can mean immediate revocation of the Home Sharing Business License and refusal to renew the West Hollywood business license.³
• False information on the license application means immediate revocation and a six-month bar on applying for a similar license.³
• Late hotel tax: a penalty of 10% of the tax, a second 10% if still unpaid after 30 days, 25% where the city finds fraud, and interest of one-half of one percent a month.⁶

1. October 13, 2025
   California's Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act (SB 346)

   SB 346 lets a city require platforms to report listing addresses and show local license numbers in listings, but it applies only to a city that adopts an ordinance making it applicable.²

2. January 1, 2025
   One-year minimum lease reaches condos and single-family homes

   Ordinance 24-05, adopted July 15, 2024, lengthened the initial minimum lease for individually owned condominiums and single-family residences from 31 days to at least one year, operative January 1, 2025.^4,7

3. January 2025
   Urgency ordinance for 2025 wildfire evacuees

   The City Council adopted an urgency ordinance that suspended enforcement of the one-year lease rule for evacuees of the 2025 fires and waived the Home Sharing Business License fee for hosts housing them. It ended by its own terms eighteen months after passage, in July 2026, and did not change the vacation rental ban.^11,13

4. November 18, 2024
   Ordinance 24-33 amends the home sharing chapter and the ban

   Ordinance 24-33 amended chapter 5.66 (Home Sharing) and the vacation rental section; the current code lets the City Council amend the ban only to make it stricter.^3,4,8

5. July 17, 2023
   Council tightens the vacation rental ban

   Ordinance 23-20 amended the vacation rental ban and added section 19.80.120, which covers hosting platforms, ads that falsely place a listing in West Hollywood, criminal penalties, back-tax and cost recovery, and administrative subpoenas.^4,5,8

Estimate what a West Hollywood home could earn

1. 1. California Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 - Occupancy taxes · California Legislative Information
2. 2. SB 346 - Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2025 (Government Code sections 50990 to 50996) · California Legislative Information
3. 3. West Hollywood Municipal Code, Chapter 5.66 Home Sharing · City of West Hollywood (eCode360)
4. 4. West Hollywood Municipal Code, Chapter 19.36 Standards for Specific Land Uses (sections 19.36.275 and 19.36.331) · City of West Hollywood (eCode360)
5. 5. West Hollywood Municipal Code, Chapter 19.80 Enforcement (section 19.80.120 Vacation Rentals) · City of West Hollywood (eCode360)
6. 6. West Hollywood Municipal Code, Chapter 3.32 Transient Occupancy Tax · City of West Hollywood (eCode360)
7. 7. Ordinance No. 24-05 (one-year minimum lease for condominiums and single-family residences) · City of West Hollywood City Council
8. 8. West Hollywood Municipal Code, Ordinance List and Disposition Table · City of West Hollywood (eCode360)
9. 9. SB 478 - Hidden Fees (Honest Pricing Law) · California Attorney General
10. 10. Vacation Rentals · City of West Hollywood Neighborhood and Business Safety, Code Enforcement
11. 11. Home Sharing License · City of West Hollywood Neighborhood and Business Safety
12. 12. Transient Occupancy Tax · City of West Hollywood Revenue Management
13. 13. Urgency Ordinance providing emergency exceptions to certain rental restrictions for persons displaced by the 2025 fires (Attachment A) · City of West Hollywood City Council
14. 14. 2026-2035 West Hollywood Tourism Improvement District Management District Plan · City of West Hollywood City Council
15. 15. Occupancy tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in California · Airbnb Help Center
16. 16. West Hollywood, CA · Airbnb Help Center