Lassen County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Some California jurisdictions limit short-term rentals to a host's primary residence to discourage investor-owned party houses. Research found no such requirement in unincorporated Lassen County, because the county has not adopted a short-term rental ordinance of any kind. As a result, there is no rule that a vacation rental must be the owner's main home, no owner-occupancy affidavit, and no cap tied to whether the host lives on-site. The controlling question instead is land use: whether renting a dwelling to transient guests is allowed by right, allowed only with a use permit, or not allowed in the specific Title 18 zoning district where the parcel sits. That zoning answer applies the same way whether the owner lives there full-time, part-time, or not at all. Lassen is a remote high-desert county with second homes and recreation cabins near Eagle Lake and the Lake Almanor area, and nothing in the county code singles those non-primary-residence properties out for an STR ban. Operators of non-owner-occupied rentals should still confirm the parcel's zoning with Planning and Building Services and register for the Transient Occupancy Tax. No primary-residence section number is cited because no such provision exists.