Long Beach Night Caps Rules (2026): What You Need to Know

Long Beach's short-term rental ordinance under LBMC Chapter 5.77 creates two distinct registration tiers with different night-cap structures. Primary Residence STR operators — defined as those who reside at the property at least 275 days per calendar year — may rent their home hosted (owner present on the premises) an unlimited number of nights. Unhosted rentals, where the owner is absent during the guest's stay, are capped at 90 calendar days per year. The City tracks unhosted night counts through mandatory platform data-sharing agreements with Airbnb and VRBO.

Non-Primary Residence STR operators face no per-property night cap, but availability of this registration type is constrained by a citywide ceiling of 800 active registrations. Once that ceiling is reached, a waitlist is maintained. Non-primary registrations are not transferable with the sale of the property. Operators must notify the City within 30 days of any change in primary residency status; failure to do so and continued operation as a primary-residence STR is treated as misrepresentation and grounds for immediate revocation without a refund of the registration fee.

No short-term rental of any type is permitted in an ADU (accessory dwelling unit), junior ADU, or any secondary unit regardless of the owner's residency status. The 90-night unhosted cap resets on January 1 of each year. Hosts are responsible for monitoring their own night count; the City may cross-reference platform records and issue revocation notices if the cap is exceeded. Three violations of any kind within a registration period also result in non-renewal.