Berkeley, CA Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Berkeley Municipal Code Section 23.314.060.A requires every short-term rental host to comply with the Second Response Ordinance, codified at Municipal Code Section 13.48, which imposes civil penalties for multiple police or fire responses to loud or unruly parties, gatherings, or similar events at a property. Once the City issues a third violation affidavit against a host under that ordinance, Section 23.314.060.A bars the host from operating any short-term rental for one full year from the date of issuance. This strike system layers on top of the chapter's general penalty scheme: Section 23.314.060.B makes any violation of the short-term rental chapter punishable under Municipal Code Sections 1.20 (General Penalty) and 1.28 (Administrative Citations), and separately declares such violations a public nuisance subject to abatement under Sections 1.24, 1.26, and 23.414 (Nuisance Abatement).

The code also gives Berkeley residents standing to sue: any resident may bring a private action for injunctive relief against a public nuisance short-term rental, provided they first give the City and the host at least 30 days' written notice and the City fails to act within that window. Qualifying nuisance conduct is defined broadly in Section 23.314.060.B.5 to include excessive noise or traffic, street obstruction by crowds or vehicles, public intoxication, underage drinking, fights, disturbances of the peace, litter, and transients who refuse Fire Department or City personnel access during an emergency response.