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

There is no rule limiting short-term rentals to an owner's primary residence in the Tulare County Ordinance Code. The countywide STR ordinance considered in 2024 did not survive: the Board of Supervisors rejected it 3-2 on July 9, 2024. Because no STR ordinance exists, the County does not distinguish between owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied STRs, and it does not require that a short-term rental be the host's primary or principal residence. This is significant in Three Rivers, where short-term rentals make up a large share of housing and many are whole-home, investor-owned units; the lack of a primary-residence requirement was part of the debate that led to the proposed ordinance. The only affirmative obligations on any operator come from the Transient Occupancy Tax Law (Tulare County Code Part I, Chapter 5, Article 11), which applies equally to a resident host renting a spare cabin and to an out-of-area owner renting an entire home, defining a 'short-term residential rental' as a private home or vacation cabin rented by someone regularly in the business of renting it. Underlying zoning for the parcel still governs whether residential use is permitted, but no STR-specific primary-residence or owner-occupancy condition is in force in the unincorporated county.