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

Jurisdictions that cap non-owner-occupied rentals at a set number of nights per year do so through an STR ordinance. Unincorporated Imperial County has no such ordinance and therefore no annual night cap, no booking-day limit, and no seasonal restriction on how many nights a property may be rented. The Title 9 Land Use Ordinance contains no day-count limit for transient rentals. The only meaningful day threshold is in the tax framework: under the standard county Transient Occupancy Tax structure (Chapter 4.16), a guest is a "transient" — and the 8% tax applies — when occupancy is for roughly 30 consecutive days or less. Stays longer than that generally fall outside TOT and look more like a residential tenancy. So rather than limiting total nights per year, Imperial County's rules distinguish short transient stays (taxable, and treated as lodging) from longer-term occupancy (untaxed, treated as residential). What can still constrain operation is the underlying zoning: if transient lodging is not a permitted use on the parcel, the limit is effectively zero nights without the right zoning or a Conditional Use Permit, regardless of any calendar cap. Operators should confirm both the zoning use status and TOT obligations with the County rather than assuming an unlimited-rental right.