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

San Benito County does not impose an annual cap on the number of nights a property may be operated as a short-term rental in the unincorporated area, because there is no standalone STR ordinance that could set such a limit. Some California jurisdictions cap unhosted STRs at a set number of nights per year (for example, 90 or 120 nights); San Benito County has not adopted any such STR night cap. The only nights-based threshold in the County's rules comes from the Transient Occupancy Tax framework: the TOT applies to occupancy by transients, generally defined as stays of 30 consecutive days or less, and booking platforms collect the 12% tax for reservations of 30 nights or shorter in the unincorporated county. That 30-day figure defines what counts as a taxable transient stay; it is not an annual usage cap. Because the County publishes no annual night limit for STRs, this site does not assert one - doing so would misrepresent county law. A property may, as far as the County Code is concerned, be rented to transients throughout the year so long as the use is allowed under Title 25 zoning, the operator holds a transient occupancy registration certificate and business license, and TOT is remitted. Operators should confirm current rules with the Resource Management Agency, since the ongoing zoning code update could introduce night caps if an STR ordinance is adopted.