Aliso Viejo, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)

Subsection (B) of AVMC 15.14.165 widens liability for a prohibited short-term rental in the City of Aliso Viejo well beyond the host. The list reads property owner, tenant, subtenant, occupant, person acting as agent, real estate broker, real estate agent, property manager, reservation service or otherwise. The trigger is arranging or negotiating the short-term use of residential property in violation of the section, whose subsection (A) prohibits short-term rental uses in all residential districts. Short-term means fewer than 30 days under the zoning definitions.

The consequence is liability pursuant to Chapter 1.06 AVMC. That chapter makes a code violation a misdemeanor or infraction, allows administrative citations with fines set by council resolution or, where none is set, in tiers of up to $100, $200 and $500, treats each day as a separate offense, and says causing, permitting, aiding or abetting an unlawful act is itself covered. A tenant who sublets, a property manager who handles bookings and a broker who negotiates the stay are each named in the text, not only the person who owns the home.

A separate rule in AVMC 1.06.010(H) addresses advertising. It makes it a separate violation for a responsible party, including the property owner, business owner, operator, manager, lessor and lessee, to advertise a use that violates the code and is advertised to take place within the city. The same subsection says a responsible party does not include a person who publishes the advertisement, such as a newspaper publisher or online booking service. So the advertising rule reaches the host side, while subsection (B) is the provision that names a reservation service as a liable party for arranging or negotiating the stay.