Rancho Cucamonga, CA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

010 defines primary residence as the dwelling unit used as the permanent residence or usual place of return for housing by the host, adding that a person may have only one primary residence, which forecloses running a short-term rental permit on a vacation home or investment property the host doesn't actually live in. 090(A) narrows who can even apply as a host: the property owner, or the owner's spouse, parent, or adult child, or a tenant who already lived at the property as a primary residence before applying and has the owner's written authorization to short-term rent it.

090(B) then locks the requirement into the operating rules themselves: the dwelling unit shall be the primary residence of the host. The city does not take a host's word for it. 030(L) requires the permit application to include documentation, in the host's name, establishing that the unit is the primary residence, consisting of at least two of the following: motor vehicle registration, driver's license, voter registration, or tax documents showing the unit as the host's residence. 090(G) closes an accessory-dwelling-unit loophole, barring any ADU subject to a no-short-term-rental covenant from being used regardless of who lives there. 020's outright ban on vacation rentals is really the enforcement backstop for this rule.