Hawthorne, CA Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Hawthorne imposes an annual usage cap on short-term rentals. Under Chapter 17.74, a short-term rental is permitted for no more than a total of 90 days during the calendar year. This is a meaningful restriction: it prevents a dwelling from being operated as a full-time vacation rental and instead limits short-term hosting to roughly a quarter of the year. The 90-day cap works together with Hawthorne's residency linkage, the rental must be a primary residence with the host on-site or a secondary residence owned by a Hawthorne primary resident, to reinforce the city's policy of preserving housing stock and neighborhood character. Each rental period must be 30 consecutive days or less to count as a short-term rental; longer tenancies fall outside the short-term framework. The cap is one of the compliance items the city looks at on annual renewal, alongside business license payment and TOT remittance. Short-term rentals also remain barred from industrial and commercial zones and from accessory dwelling units and Section 8 housing. California state law does not set a statewide night cap, so the 90-day annual limit is a Hawthorne-specific rule that is stricter than many jurisdictions that allow unlimited or 180-day hosting. Operators should track their rental days carefully across the calendar year to avoid exceeding the cap, which is a permit-jeopardizing violation.