Palm Desert, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Palm Desert Municipal Code § 5.10.050.A.1 attaches a presence test to the on-site short-term rental permit. As a condition of the permit, the host must demonstrate regular occupancy, which can be by neighbor verification or other means sufficient, in the discretion of the city manager, to show regular and continuous owner-occupancy prior to and during each rental period.

The definitions in § 5.10.030 give the test its content. A host is a property owner who occupies the property during the entire period of the short term rental. An on-site rental is one at the host's primary residence where the host remains on the property and resides in a bedroom or casita throughout the guest's stay, except during daytime or work hours. A casita is a detached or attached living quarters that occupies not more than one-tenth of the area of the lot and is designed as a bedroom or office.

The presence rule feeds directly into occupancy counts. Under § 5.10.090.G, if the property is an on-site short-term rental, the host is deemed to occupy at least one bedroom, which reduces the number of bedrooms available for overnight guests and reduces the total number of daytime guests permitted.

Availability duties apply on top of presence. While the unit is rented, § 5.10.090.A requires the host or operator to be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond within thirty minutes to complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of guests. Before occupancy, § 5.10.100.A requires the host or operator to meet and greet the responsible person on site or virtually and collect a name, address and copy of valid government identification.

Where no host lives on the property, the rental is off-site and § 5.10.040 requires the owner to designate an operator, while keeping the owner personally responsible for noncompliance by the owner, the operator or the guests.