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

Murrieta, like many Southern California cities, distinguishes between hosted short-term rentals (where the owner lives on-site during the guest stay) and non-hosted (whole-home) STRs. Hosted STRs generally may operate year-round with no cap on rental nights. Non-hosted or investor-owned STRs are commonly subject to an annual night cap in the range of 90 to 180 rental days per calendar year. Operators must track nights rented through their monthly TOT filings and may be required to submit a year-end reconciliation showing total days. Exceeding the cap can lead to suspension of the STR permit for the remainder of the calendar year and denial of renewal. The cap is designed to preserve housing stock for long-term residents and to limit the conversion of neighborhood homes into full-time commercial lodging. Some HOAs within Murrieta (including Copper Canyon and parts of California Oaks) impose stricter caps or outright prohibitions that operate in addition to the city rules. A rental day is typically counted as any 24-hour period with paid occupancy, and partial days count as full days for cap purposes.