Monterey Park, CA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Section 5.08.010 makes it unlawful to transact any business, trade or occupation in the city without first procuring a license, and Chapter 5.12 applies that requirement to landlords through a specific definition: a 'residential rental business' is renting, leasing or making available for rent more than a total of three residential rental units, whether they sit on one parcel or are spread across several locations in the city (Section 5.12.063). A 'residential rental unit' is defined broadly to include any room, building or structure designed for residential dwelling use, including hotel and motel rooms, apartments, single-family homes, and mobile home spaces, but excludes a unit the owner occupies (Section 5.12.064); the code presumes any unit the owner does not occupy is a rental unit.

The special classification fee schedule in Section 5.12.230(22) charges $35.00 per residential rental unit anywhere in the city, with the fee calculated only on units above the three-unit threshold; the code's own example walks through an owner of two four-unit parcels (eight units total, minus the three-unit exemption, times $35.00) owing $175.00. A separate, lower per-unit fee schedule applies to commercial rental units under Section 5.12.230(21), based on square footage rather than a flat per-unit charge.