Davis, CA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)
Key Facts
- Registration required
- Before any tenancy begins
- Filing deadline
- 60 days after becoming a rental
- Fee due date
- January 1 annually
- Delinquency penalty
- 50% added after 30 days
- Local manager rule
- Required if owner is 50+ miles away
Summary
No owner may rent a residential unit in Davis until it's registered with the city under Municipal Code Article 18.11. Multifamily buildings of five or more units register under Section 18.11.040; single-family rentals of one to four units register under Section 18.11.050. Both carry an annual fee and an escalating late-payment penalty.
Registration of multifamily rental units. Unless exempt pursuant to Section 18.11.030(a), no owner may rent a multifamily rental unit to a tenant unless and until such multifamily rental unit is registered with the city in accordance with this article. ... Each owner shall register the multifamily rental units on a form provided by the city. ... Failure to register the rental unit shall result in penalties as described in subsection (b)(2) and Section 18.11.140. ... The annual registration fee is due and payable on January 1 and shall be levied for the calendar year.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4915048; v22 updated 2026-05-19).
Full Breakdown
050, to a tenant unless the unit is registered with the city. Registration must be filed on a city form within sixty days of a unit becoming subject to the article, and must list the owner's contact information, plus, if the owner lives outside the area, a local manager within fifty miles with authority to act for the owner. Owners must update the city within sixty days of any change to that information. 04. 02. Exemptions cover owner-occupied homes with a rented room, legal ADUs where the main house is owner-occupied, mobile home parks, hotels and motels subject to the transient occupancy tax, and units already inspected periodically by another government agency.
Violations & Fines
Missing the January 1 registration deadline triggers a thirty-day delinquency notice, then a fifty percent penalty added to the unpaid fee, and if still unpaid sixty days after the delinquency notice, the city issues a citation under Article 1.02 and finds the owner in violation. Renting an unregistered unit is itself a violation of Article 18.11.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to register a single rental house, or only apartment buildings?
What happens if I forget to pay the annual registration fee?
Is my own home exempt if I rent out a room?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Davis
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Rental Registration in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Yolo County handle rental registration.