Marin County, CA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Marin County Code § 5.100.080 requires each person or entity seeking to rent or lease one or more dwelling units on properties covered by Chapter 5.100 to register those units no later than June 1, 2019, and on or before January 1 of each year thereafter, using county-provided forms. Chapter 5.100 applies under § 5.100.020 to unincorporated properties with at least three dwelling units, including multifamily or multipurpose structures, single room occupancy units, or units hired, rented, or leased to a household under Civil Code § 1940, but exempts government-owned or subsidized units, developments where at least 49 percent of units carry binding affordable-rent restrictions, accessory dwelling units, and units occupied by an on-site manager employed by the landlord.

Each registration entry must be certified true as of November 1 of the preceding year under penalty of perjury and must include the owner's name, address, and phone number (or the entity and its agent for service of process), the address of each unit for rent, the number of bedrooms, the monthly rent amount and date received, whether rent includes specified utilities, the occupancy status of each unit, the address of every other unit the owner holds in the county, and the business license number for each unit under Chapter 5.54.

Registration is not merely paperwork: § 5.100.040(a)(6) makes registering the dwelling unit under § 5.100.080 a mandatory prerequisite before a landlord can serve any notice of termination after June 1, 2019, alongside holding a valid business license and providing the tenant-rights notice required by § 5.95.080. Section 5.100.090 additionally requires properties covered by the chapter to maintain a valid business license and a valid operating permit from Marin County Environmental Health Services.