Lassen County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

A host-presence rule typically requires the owner to be on-site during guest stays, or to name a local property manager who can respond within a set time. Research found no such requirement in unincorporated Lassen County, because no short-term rental ordinance has been adopted. There is no mandated 24-hour local contact, no required response time, and no rule that the host be present or sleep on the premises. The county instead relies on its general tools: Title 18 zoning to decide whether the rental use is allowed, the Transient Occupancy Tax for revenue, and the countywide Noise Ordinance (Chapter 9.65) plus nuisance and law-enforcement authority to address problems that arise during a stay. Practically, because Lassen is a remote county where emergency response and code enforcement can be slow to reach outlying parcels, designating a nearby contact who can quickly address noise, septic, snow, or safety issues is a sensible voluntary step even though it is not legally required. Operators should confirm zoning compliance and TOT registration rather than searching for a host-presence permit condition, which does not exist. No section number is cited because the county code contains no host-presence provision for STRs.