Monterey County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)
Key Facts
- License number
- Required on every platform listing
- Monthly reporting
- By the 15th, starting Jan 2025
- Takedown deadline
- 10 days after county notice
- Platform fine
- Up to $1,000 per offense (§ 7.120.080(G))
- Governing section
- § 7.120.080
Summary
Booking platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo must police Monterey County vacation rental listings or face fines. County Code § 7.120.080 requires hosting platforms to display the license number on every listing, report listing data monthly, remove noncompliant listings within 10 days of county notice, and pay up to $1,000 per violation.
A.The hosting platform shall require the operator for each listing to include the license number in the advertisement on the hosting platform in unincorporated Monterey County. ... F.Hosting platforms, within ten (10) calendar days of receiving notice from the County of non-compliant listings, shall remove those listings from their hosting platform.G.The County may fine a hosting platform an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per offense, for each violation of this Section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 56).
Full Breakdown
' Subsection (D) imposes an ongoing reporting duty: starting three months after October 14, 2024 and by the 15th of every month after that, each platform must give the County the license number, operator name, street address, and length of stay for every vacation rental listing in its reporting period. Under subsection (E), once the County finds a listing lacks a valid license or is otherwise noncompliant, it must notify the platform by email, and subsection (F) gives the platform ten calendar days from that notice to remove the listing. 160.
Violations & Fines
Each violation of the hosting-platform duties in § 7.120.080, including a missed monthly report or a listing left up more than ten days after a county takedown notice, draws a fine of up to $1,000 per offense under § 7.120.080(G), with every violation treated separately and every additional day of noncompliance capable of generating a new violation under the general Chapter 7.120 enforcement provisions in § 7.120.160(E).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Airbnb or Vrbo be fined for a Monterey County listing without a license?
How long does a booking platform have to remove a flagged Monterey County listing?
What data must a booking platform report to Monterey County each month?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Monterey County
California rules heatmap·Compare Monterey County to another location·View the California short-term rentals overview
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