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

Chapter 5.76 does not stop at regulating hosts; Section 5.76.110 imposes direct obligations on the hosting platform itself. Subsection A makes the platform an agent of the host for transient occupancy tax purposes: absent an alternative arrangement in the city's administrative guidelines, the platform must collect the tax on every completed booking and remit it to the city under Chapter 3.16. Subsection B requires the platform to require the host to input the home share unit's city-issued permit number, consistent with the city's alphanumeric format, before a listing can go live, and any pre-existing listing without that number must come down.

Subsection C bars the platform from completing a booking for any unit that is not on the city's public home-sharing registry created under Section 5.76.090 at the moment the platform collects its fee. Subsection D adds a quarterly reporting duty: the platform must tell the city how many total nights all home-share units booked through it were rented in that period. Subsection E prohibits the platform from collecting a fee for ancillary services, insurance, concierge, catering, or cleaning tied to an unregistered rental. A platform gets a safe harbor under Subsection F if it either follows Subsections A through E or complies with the administrative guidelines the city manager approves for satisfying these duties.