Placer County, California, amends short-term rental rules

Placer County, California, has amended its short-term rental (STR) ordinance to update operational rules. New regulations go into effect August 22, 2024.

In 2022, the county passed a law that required all short-term rental operators to hold a permit and capped the number of short-term rental permits at 3,900. As of June 1, 2024, there are 3,411 current STR permits in the county. The cap, equal to around 25% of the region’s homes, was passed due to concerns about housing affordability. Hotels, motels, condo-hotels, and timeshares are not subject to the cap. Placer County STR hosts must also follow regulations on noise, garbage collection, parking, occupancy, special events, and more.

Under the recent amendments, the definition of a “condo-hotel” was expanded to clarify that it must have 24/7 management, “which includes a minimum of a staffed front desk during business hours and on-call management after business hours.”

Fire safety rules were updated to require all condo-hotels to:

• Have central fire alarm/sprinkler systems connected to all units and inspected annually, or
• Be located in a tourism zone and/or built as commercial lodging and have smoke and CO monitors and fire extinguishers that are checked monthly, with professional management responsible for safety

Condo-hotels are subject to random audits by either Placer County staff or local fire department staff.

The county also updated the requirements for STR local contacts, who must:

• Be personally available by telephone on a 24-hour basis
• Reside within 35 driving miles of the STR
• Have access and authority to manage the STR
• Agree to be the local contact for all STR activity

Previously, local contacts were required to be able to be onsite within one hour. Professional property managers can act as local contacts if they meet all the requirements.

The amendments also address penalties and fines. Going forward, STRs that receive three notices of violation within a 90-day period will be fined $1,500, regardless of whether the violations were remedied within the specified timeframe. Owners who operate STRs without a license can be fined up to $5,000.

Other changes include:

• STRs must pass defensible space inspections every three years. All permitted STRs must pass a defensible space inspection by November 30, 2024.
• All STRs must pass fire-life safety inspections every three years.
• Accessory Dwelling Units permitted after June 9, 2020, may not be operated as STRs.
• STR bedrooms must meet all requirements of the California Residential Code at the date the structure was permitted.
• No STR parking is allowed on roadways.

STR hosts are also required to apply for a transient occupancy tax (TOT) certificate, collect TOT from guests, and file quarterly returns. While Airbnb collects lodging taxes in nearby El Dorado County, neither Airbnb nor Vrbo collect TOT for hosts in Placer County, leaving hosts solely responsible for tax compliance.

Short-term rentals have been controversial in the Lake Tahoe area for years. Several communities in the area have passed moratoriums or new rules, including South Lake Tahoe in California and the town of Truckee, California as well as Douglas County, and Washoe County in Nevada.

Avalara MyLodgeTax can help short-term rental hosts automate lodging tax to streamline and simplify their lodging tax compliance. For more on lodging taxes in California, see our state vacation rental tax guide. If you have tax questions related to vacation rental properties, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you with answers.