El Cerrito, CA Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

Chapter 88-32 of the Contra Costa County Ordinance Code, adopted through Ordinance No. 2020-12, governs short-term rentals of 30 consecutive days or less in unincorporated areas. The publicly-posted STR application requires an applicant to identify the property owner, designate a local responsible party, submit a site plan and floor plan, document primary residence (for hosted rentals), and pay the application fee, but the county's STR Summary and Short-Term Rentals page do not list a minimum host liability insurance amount or a homeowners endorsement requirement as a condition of issuance. By contrast, several California cities (for example Sonoma County's vacation rental rules and various Bay Area cities) impose a $500,000 or $1,000,000 minimum liability requirement; Contra Costa County's unincorporated regime does not. Hosts who use Airbnb or Vrbo typically receive platform-provided host liability coverage (Airbnb AirCover for Hosts at $1 million, Vrbo Liability Insurance at $1 million), and California Insurance Code Section 1758.9 expressly authorizes vacation-rental platforms to offer that coverage, but those programs are platform-level, not county-mandated. Independent of the STR ordinance, standard homeowners and dwelling fire policies frequently exclude or limit coverage for paid short-term rental activity, and lenders, HOA covenants, and CC&Rs may separately require named-insured endorsements or commercial general liability coverage. Cities within the county (Walnut Creek, Concord, Richmond, San Ramon, Danville, Lafayette, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Brentwood, Antioch, Pittsburg) set their own STR rules; some incorporated jurisdictions in the Bay Area do require minimum liability coverage as a permit condition, so the unincorporated rule does not control inside city limits.