Tulare County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

There is no short-term-rental liability-insurance requirement in the Tulare County Ordinance Code. The countywide STR ordinance considered in 2024 would have established an STR regulatory program with operating conditions, but the Board of Supervisors rejected the ordinance 3-2 on July 9, 2024, so no proof-of-insurance condition is in force for STRs in the unincorporated county. The Transient Occupancy Tax Law, which is the only mandatory framework that currently applies, does not require insurance; its registration certificate is a tax document and 'does not constitute a permit.' Operators should be aware that the absence of a County mandate does not eliminate practical insurance needs: standard homeowner policies often exclude commercial short-term-rental activity, hosting platforms typically offer their own host protection programs with significant limitations, and a lender or HOA may impose its own coverage requirements. Carrying adequate liability and property coverage is strongly advisable as a matter of risk management even though Tulare County does not require it. Note that some claims online describing an existing Tulare County 'short-term rental ordinance' requiring proof of liability insurance actually describe the proposed ordinance that was rejected, not enacted county law; no such insurance requirement is in the adopted code.