Santa Clara, CA Short-Term Rentals: Extended Home Share (2026)

250, draws a hard line between hosted and unhosted rentals, and the difference controls how many days a unit can be rented each year. Where the host is present within the unit during the short-term rental, that hosted rental may run for an unlimited number of days per calendar year, unlike an unhosted rental, which is capped at 90 days. Accessory Dwelling Units share in this benefit: an ADU is treated as hosted, and therefore eligible for the unlimited-day allowance, whenever the primary unit on the same lot is owner-occupied, even though no one physically sleeps in the ADU itself.

The unlimited-day allowance does not remove any other requirement from the ordinance. A host running an extended, year-round home-share must still hold an Administrative Permit for Short-term Rentals and a City Business License, register on a calendar-year basis, renew by December 15, and maintain a local contact person available around the clock to respond on-site within 60 minutes to any complaint about the rental's condition, operation, or occupants. Weddings, corporate events, and other large gatherings that could cause traffic, parking, or noise impacts remain prohibited on the property regardless of hosted status, and the City can still revoke the registration for fraud, misrepresentation, or any violation of the Section, the City Code, or state or federal law. The unlimited allowance is a scheduling exemption within a fully regulated permit program, not an exemption from registration itself.