10 rules for unincorporated Lake County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Unincorporated Lake County, California has no stand-alone short-term rental ordinance. The County Zoning Ordinance does not list vacation rentals as a use; transient lodging is regulated only as a Bed and Breakfast (zoning permit) or Bed and Breakfast Inn (use permit), and any operator must register for and remit Transient Occupancy Tax under County Code Chapter 18, Article II.
Unincorporated Lake County has no noise rule written specifically for vacation rentals. Short-term rental guests are subject to the County's general performance and nuisance standards. The County Zoning Ordinance references its noise standard at Section 21-41.11, applied through the zoning code's general performance standards in Article 41, rather than through any STR-specific quiet-hours ordinance.
Unincorporated Lake County imposes a 9% Transient Occupancy Tax on the rent charged for any lodging rented to transients (stays of 30 days or less), under County Code Section 18-12. An additional 2.5% assessment funds the Lake County Tourism Improvement District, so operators file a combined TOT-TID return with the Tax Collector each calendar quarter.
Unincorporated Lake County has no parking rule written specifically for vacation rentals, because there is no STR ordinance. The only transient-lodging parking standard in the County zoning code requires one off-street parking space per guest room for a Bed and Breakfast (Sec. 21-27.3(c)) or Bed and Breakfast Inn (Sec. 21-27.13(b)), in addition to the parking for the principal residence.
Unincorporated Lake County sets no specific guest-occupancy cap for whole-house vacation rentals, because it has no dedicated STR ordinance. The only transient-lodging occupancy limits in the County zoning code are room counts for Bed and Breakfasts - a maximum of two guest rooms (Sec. 21-27.3(c)) - and Bed and Breakfast Inns, three to eight rooms (Sec. 21-27.13(b)).
Unincorporated Lake County does not impose a liability-insurance requirement on short-term rentals, because it has no dedicated STR ordinance. There is no County-mandated minimum coverage for vacation rentals; the County code addresses lodging through the Transient Occupancy Tax (Chapter 18, Article II) and the zoning use types, neither of which requires proof of insurance.
Unincorporated Lake County sets no annual cap on the number of nights a vacation rental may operate, because it has no dedicated STR ordinance. The only stay-length limit in the County code is the 14-consecutive-day maximum for guests at a Bed and Breakfast Inn (Sec. 21-27.13(b)), a per-stay limit rather than an annual cap on a vacation rental.
Unincorporated Lake County has no online vacation-rental registry. Instead, anyone renting lodging to transients must register with the Tax Collector and obtain a Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate under County Code Section 18-15, posted conspicuously on the premises. The County uses a combined TOT-TID registration form. The certificate expressly "does not constitute a permit."
Unincorporated Lake County does not require a host to be present during a short-term rental stay. With no dedicated STR ordinance, the County imposes no on-site host or local-contact mandate on vacation rentals. The only host-presence concept in the County code is the residential, accessory nature of a Bed and Breakfast under Article 27.
Unincorporated Lake County does not require a short-term rental to be the host's primary residence. Because the County has no STR ordinance, there is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence restriction on vacation rentals in the unincorporated area - a distinction from many California jurisdictions that limit STRs to a host's primary home.
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