Merced, CA Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Because Merced's Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance defines 'hotel' broadly in Sec. B to include tourist homes, lodginghouses, apartment houses, and mobile homes or house trailers at a fixed location, an operator renting a room or unit to transients for 30 days or less, including a short-term rental host, is treated as a hotel operator for registration purposes. Sec. 050 requires that operator to register the property with the finance officer within 30 days after starting business and obtain a 'Transient Occupancy Registration Certificate,' which must be posted at all times in a conspicuous place on the premises.

The certificate must display the operator's name, the address of the property, and the date it was issued, and must state that the holder has fulfilled the Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance's registration requirement for collecting and remitting the tax to the tax administrator. The code is explicit that the certificate is not itself a business permit: it does not authorize unlawful business activity, does not excuse the operator from complying with all other applicable local laws, and does not substitute for any permit required from any city board, commission, department, or office.

Registration is tied directly to the taxing scheme: once registered, the operator must collect the 10 percent transient occupancy tax under Sec. 030, file quarterly returns, and remit the tax to the finance officer under Sec. 060.