Sutter County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Registration Rules (2026)

Under County Code Section 150-060, within 30 days after commencing business each operator of a hotel/motel - a category that, by the Section 150-010 definition, includes bed and breakfast inns and other transient lodging rented for 30 days or less in the unincorporated area - must register the property with the county and obtain a 'Hotel/Motel Registration Certificate' to be posted at all times in a conspicuous place on the premises. The certificate states the operator's name, the property address, and the date of issuance. 'Operator' is defined broadly to include the owner, lessee, sub-lessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, or agent. There is no separate short-term rental registry, no county STR safety-inspection mandate, and no county-imposed STR insurance minimum. The certificate registration is purely the mechanism for administering the 10% transient lodging surcharge; the operator must also keep records for at least three years under Section 150-100. The county does not advertise a short-term rental program on its Planning and Zoning pages, consistent with regulating these rentals only through the Chapter 150 surcharge.