Is short-term rental legal in San Francisco, CA?
A short-term rental is a rental under 30 nights. Only a permanent resident may register, and only their one permanent residence.
Rules checked October 2026
Run the San Francisco verdict on your facts
| What counts as a short-term rental | A short-term rental is a rental under 30 nights. Only a permanent resident may register, and only their one permanent residence. |
|---|---|
| Permit / license | Short-Term Residential Rental Registration + Business Registration Certificate — issued by SF Office of Short-Term Rentals + Treasurer & Tax Collector |
| Fee | Registration about $450 initially; business registration is a separate yearly fee scaled to receipts |
| Renewal | Registration renews every 2 years; hosts file quarterly reports of nights rented |
| Primary-residence rule | You must be the permanent resident — living in the unit at least 275 nights a year. One registration per person, one unit only. |
| Whole-home rental | Unhosted (whole-home, you away) rentals are capped; hosted rentals (you present) are not capped. |
| Night cap | 90 nights/year (unhosted) |
| Guests / occupancy | Per building/fire rules for the unit |
| Minimum stay | None for registered units |
| Zoning | Residential zoning is fine for a registered permanent residence; units with certain Ellis Act and affordability histories are disqualified. |
| Density / scarcity | No density cap found in the current rules |
| Fines | $484 per day for a first violation, $968 per day for a second, civil exposure to $1,000 per day, plus misdemeanor exposure |
| Taxes | Business Registration Certificate + 14%+ hotel tax collection; the platform collects the tax for most hosts, the registration never transfers. |
| Platform duties | Platforms may not collect a fee for an unregistered unit and report listing data to the city. |
| State layer | No state preemption — California is the most locally regulated STR state in the country. Coastal-zone rules can add a Coastal Commission layer in some cities. |
What trips hosts in San Francisco
- San Francisco's cap is on unhosted nights only — a fact most summaries flatten, and most hosts get wrong.
- Renters register in their own name only with the unit as their permanent residence; a lease bar still defeats the rental privately.
The private layer still applies
These are the city's rules. Your HOA, condo board, lease or mortgage can say no on top of them — that layer is printed as a warning in the checker, never merged into the city's verdict.
Sources: SF Admin. Code Ch. 41A · SF Office of Short-Term Rentals program rules. Rules checked October 2026.