Cathedral City, CA HOA Rules: CC&R Enforcement (2026)

Chapter 5.96 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code, adopted by the Cathedral City City Council in Riverside County, California, ties its permit system directly to association rules. The purpose clause in § 5.96.010 says the chapter does not give any owner of residential property the right or privilege to violate private CC&Rs that prohibit use as a STVR or for home sharing. It also describes the phase-out of STVRs as excepting common interest developments with established CC&Rs that do not prohibit STVRs.

Section 5.96.020 defines a common interest development as one subject to the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act and California Civil Code Section 4100, including homeowners associations, condominium owner associations and similar associations. "CC&Rs" means all legal documents establishing the declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions recorded against a property in such a development.

The city's own tool is the permit. Under § 5.96.035(B), new permits other than home sharing go only to rentals in a qualifying unit within a common interest development. Under § 5.96.040(F), an owner in an area governed by a common interest development must add to the standard application a letter from the association's governing board stating that the CC&Rs and rules and regulations do not prohibit short-term vacation rentals within the development and on the subject unit. Under § 5.96.040(N)(4), the city denies a new or renewal permit if there is credible evidence that the governing documents, or rules enacted by the association, prohibit use of the property for short-term vacation rental purposes. After a denial of a new permit, the owner can apply again only after twelve months (§ 5.96.040(O)).

Separately, city code enforcement of the chapter runs through Title 13 administrative citations. Rentals in common interest developments are exempt from the four-day, three-night minimum stay and, where the development has communal waste bins, from the two regular and two recycling can requirement (§ 5.96.050(G), (O)).