Chino Hills, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Some jurisdictions distinguish 'hosted' short-term rentals (host present during the guest's stay) from 'unhosted' whole-home rentals, sometimes allowing the former and restricting the latter. Chino Hills makes no such distinction, because it prohibits short-term rentals altogether. The City's Code Enforcement guidance is clear: the municipal code "does not allow short term rentals, but does allow homes/rooms to be rented out for 30 days or more." Because no short-term rental is permitted, there is no hosted-stay allowance, no requirement (or option) for the host to remain on the premises, and no separate rule for renting a spare room while the owner is present. The earlier narrow tolerance for short-term lodging in certain commercial zones (C-F, C-G, C-R) was eliminated by the October 2022 citywide ban, which covers all zones. A homeowner therefore cannot operate a lawful short-term rental by staying on-site, being reachable nearby, or limiting bookings to a single room. The only compliant rental arrangement is a tenancy of 30 days or longer, which is treated as an ordinary long-term residential lease rather than a short-term rental, and host presence is irrelevant to that classification. Hosts should not rely on hosted-stay frameworks used in other cities or counties. Verify the current rule directly with Chino Hills Code Enforcement before advertising any room or property.