Tustin, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Tustin City Code Section 9279(F)(1) and (F)(2) impose two separate restrictions on every accessory dwelling unit and junior accessory dwelling unit the City permits. The first bars separate conveyance: except as Government Code Section 65852.26 or other law otherwise provides, an ADU or JADU may be rented apart from the primary residence, but it cannot be sold or otherwise conveyed separately, and the underlying lot cannot be subdivided in any way that would let someone buy or own the accessory unit on its own. That keeps every ADU and JADU tied permanently to the same parcel as the main house, so a Tustin ADU can never become its own condominium-style unit with a separate deed.

The second restriction targets the length of any rental: an ADU or JADU that is rented must be rented for a term longer than thirty days, and the Section defines short-term rental explicitly as a stay of thirty days or less. That flatly rules out listing a Tustin backyard ADU or garage-converted JADU on a nightly or weekly booking platform; only month-to-month or longer leases are lawful. The restriction sits inside the same Section that separately requires a recorded deed restriction for JADUs, so a JADU's rental term is doubled up: it must run longer than thirty days under Section 9279(F)(2), and the deed restriction recorded under Section 9279(E)(8) makes that term enforceable against every future owner of the property, not just the person who built the unit.