Pasadena, CA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Pasadena's short-term rental ordinance, Municipal Code Section 17.50.296, requires a host to hold a city-issued short-term rental permit before renting a primary residence to transient guests (Section 17.50.296.E). Section 17.50.296.F.5 sets the occupancy cap that applies to every permitted rental: short-term rentals 'shall not be used by more than 2 guests per bedroom plus 2 additional guests at one time.' A studio or one-bedroom unit is therefore capped at four guests, a three-bedroom house at eight, and so on, with no separate exception for larger groups renting through a hosting platform.

The same section bars vacation rentals outright, meaning only a host's actual primary residence, where the host lives at least nine months a year, can be short-term rented at all (Section 17.50.296.D and B.5); un-hosted stays are further limited to 90 days per year, though hosted stays where the host stays on-site have no such day limit (Section 17.50.296.F.4). Commercial events, weddings, and other group gatherings are separately prohibited from being booked through a short-term rental listing, even if the guest count would otherwise fit under the two-per-bedroom-plus-two cap (Section 17.50.296.F.6).

Enforcement runs through the city's general penalty and administrative fine chapters: a host cited three times for the same property can have the short-term rental permit automatically suspended, and after a hearing it can be revoked, barring the host from reapplying for at least one year (Section 17.50.296.I.3).