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

Tustin City Code Section 9281 takes a different approach than cities that license short-term rentals: instead of a permit program, Section 9281(A) states the purpose of the Section is to establish that short-term rentals are prohibited uses on any property within the City's residential zones, and within any other zoning district in the City, including all underlying or base zones, overlay zones, planned communities, and adopted specific plans, in which residential uses are a permitted use. Section 9281(B) enforces that purpose with two flat prohibitions: no responsible party may operate or allow the operation of a short-term rental in any residential zoning district, and no responsible party may post, publish, circulate, broadcast, or maintain any advertisement of a short-term rental for a stay of less than thirty consecutive days, including a listing that quotes only a daily or weekly rate.

Because the use itself is banned, there is no permit-requirements checklist to satisfy; a property owner cannot cure noncompliance by applying for a license the way a homeowner might in a city that regulates rather than bans the use. Section 9281(C) backs the ban with public nuisance authority, declaring any violation a public nuisance the City may summarily abate under Section 1122 and California Code of Civil Procedure Section 731. Section 9281(D) makes a violation prosecutable as an infraction or misdemeanor, and Section 9281(E) applies the general penalty provisions of Tustin City Code Article 1, Chapter 1, Part 6, Section 1162 to any violation of the short-term rental ban.