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

5(g)(3)(A) structures registration around the unit's Permanent Resident, the capitalized role Chapter 41A itself defines, and that person, not a manager or agent, is the one who renews it. Registration runs for a two-year term and continues only if the Permanent Resident files a completed renewal application. Both initial and renewal applications must be in a form prescribed by the Planning Department, so an informal letter or email does not start the process. The Department, not the applicant, determines when an application counts as complete, and it mails notice to the unit's owner of record, which means a landlord learns when a tenant registers the unit for short-term rental.

Once the Department finds the application complete, it enters the unit into the Short-Term Residential Rental Registry and assigns it an individual registration number; a listing is lawful only after that number exists. 5(g)(3)(B) sets the cost at $50 for the initial application and $50 again for each two-year renewal. 5(g)(3)(C) then adds a continuing obligation: quarterly reports of the unit's rental days, which the host must keep filing to remain in good standing on the Registry.