Anaheim
Can you run an Airbnb or do rental arbitrage here? What the city requires: permits, taxes, safety rules and enforcement.
Red light: no new short-term rentals in residential zones
Anaheim does not allow new short-term rentals in single-family, multiple-family or any other zone where homes are allowed, apart from rentals the city permitted before its moratorium and some commercial-zone rentals approved before it.[1] A permit goes only to an owner, and the code counts a lessee as an owner.[2, 3] Running a rental without a permit costs $500 a day.[4]
Our verdict, based on the sources at the end of this guide.
Anaheim does not allow new short-term rentals in single-family, multiple-family or any other zone that allows homes.[1] Only rentals the city permitted before its moratorium, and some commercial-zone rentals approved before it, are excepted.[1] The permit sits in the owner's name, and it can pass to a new owner, or to a lessee who takes the leasehold, through a transfer application and a $498 fee.[2, 5, 8] The city says opening entirely new rentals remains prohibited.[6]
Key requirements
Where rentals are allowed
Short-term rentals aren't an allowed use in single-family, multiple-family or any other zone where homes are allowed.[1] The exceptions are pre-moratorium rentals and some C-G General Commercial Zone rentals that a conditional use permit authorized before the Sept 15, 2015 moratorium.[1] A pre-moratorium rental is one the city permitted before Aug 11, 2016, or one whose application was filed before Sept 16, 2015 and approved after Aug 11, 2016.[3]
Owner permit
The permit is issued only to and in the name of the owner, who is responsible for every requirement of the chapter.[2] The code defines owner as the person or entity that holds legal or equitable title, and says owner includes a lessee.[3] An agent can file renewals, manage the property and file tax reports for the owner, but the owner stays responsible.[2]
Transfers
A permit doesn't run with the land and is personal to the owner it was issued to.[8] A person can acquire a permit by acquiring the property, which for a lessee-owner includes a leasehold interest, once a transfer application and fee are filed.[8] The new owner must file within 14 calendar days of the change, and the city lists the fee as $498.[5, 9]
If you operate for an owner
Because only an owner can hold the permit, the owner stays on it and can name an agent to manage the rental.[2] The city's change of ownership packet includes an Authorized Agent Appointment form for owners who aren't managing the rental themselves.[5] California's real estate law covers anyone who, for pay, rents or offers to rent property for another or collects its rents, so managing a rental for an owner for pay may need a state real estate license.[10]
Renewal
The permit runs to July 31 of the year it's issued, and renewals are due on or before July 31.[5, 8] If a permit expires, isn't renewed or is revoked, the owner and the owner's heirs, successors and assigns have no further right to apply for another one for that dwelling.[8] The Planning Director approves a renewal if no circumstances during the term would let a violation continue and the rental meets the operating requirements.[8]
Operational and safety standards
Minimum stay and occupancy
Every rental must be for at least three consecutive nights, and ads must state the minimum stay and the maximum occupancy.[11] Occupancy runs from 2 guests for a studio to 19 for eight or more bedrooms, and a lower limit on the permit governs.[11]
Local contact
Someone must be reachable by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week while the unit is rented.[11] The owner, agent or local contact person must be on site within 45 minutes when an enforcement officer or the Police Department asks.[11]
Parking and quiet time
Occupants' vehicles can park only in an approved driveway or garage, and the property must have at least two off-street spaces.[11] Quiet time is 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.[11]
Ads and events
Every ad must include the city-issued permit number (REG ID#), and no one may advertise a rental without an approved permit.[11] The property can't be used for weddings, receptions, parties, commercial functions, advertised conferences or similar assemblies separate from lodging.[11]
Safety and inspections
The property and each rental unit must meet the fire, building and safety and health codes before the permit is issued or renewed, and for as long as the permit is in effect.[11] The city can run random inspections, within constitutional limits.[11]
Tax obligations
City transient occupancy tax
Each transient pays a tax of 15% of the rent for occupancy of a hotel, and the code's definition of hotel includes a short-term rental.[7, 12] The 15% must be stated separately from the rent.[13]
What counts as rent
Rent is the total consideration charged for the accommodation, with no deduction.[12] The city's June 17, 2026 guidelines list booking, service, processing and credit card fees, housekeeping charges, pet fees and California Tourism Marketing Assessments charged to guests as rent.[14]
Returns and payment
Every operator that collects rent must file a TOT return each month, even if no tax is due, and pay by the last city business day of the following month.[14] The city says the return and payment must arrive by 5 p.m. that day,[13] and the return form adds a 10% penalty and 1.5% interest per month on late tax.[15]
Booking platforms
If an online travel company collects the rent from the guest, the guidelines say it also collects the tax and files a return and payment.[14] It must list the tax paid for each short-term rental by its registration number or by the property's address.[14]
Stays of 30 days or more
A guest is a transient until the 30th consecutive day, and tax is due on rent collected before that day unless the stay is under a qualifying rental agreement.[12] That is a written contract signed by both landlord and tenant for at least 30 consecutive days that covers the occupant's legal residence or principal dwelling.[12]
Enforcement
No permit
Operating a short-term rental without a permit is a civil citation of $500 for each day a violation occurs.[4] Any violation may also be a misdemeanor, and the code declares a violation a public nuisance.[4]
Fines for owners and contacts
The owner, agent or local contact can be fined $200 for a minor and $1,000 for a major offense the first time, and $400 and $1,500 the second time within 12 months.[4] Fines rise to $1,000 and $2,500 for the third and fourth offenses, then $1,500 and $3,000 from the fifth, and $2,500 for any offense during a revocation period.[4] A responsible person can be fined $200 for a minor and $500 for a major offense.[4]
Suspension and revocation
The Planning Director can suspend or revoke a permit for two major violations at the same property within 12 months, or for ten minor violations in that period.[16] A change of ownership has no effect on the count.[16] The city doesn't have to give a warning or notice to cure first.[4]
Hosting platforms
A hosting platform can't list a rental the city hasn't permitted, and it must remove the listing within 10 calendar days after the city notifies it.[17] Platform fines are $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second and $2,000 for a third or later within 12 months, unless state or federal law prohibits them.[4]
Appeals
An appeal of an administrative decision under the chapter must be in writing, with any required fee, and reach the City Clerk within 10 calendar days of the date the notice was mailed.[18] Civil citations follow the notice and appeal process in Chapter 1.20 of the code.[4]
Bottom line for arbitrage
Skip Anaheim unless the property already holds a valid city permit. Ask the city to confirm that before you sign anything.
Step 1 is the hard part. We find landlords who already said yes →
Sources
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