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

Santa Clara ties short-term rental eligibility directly to a property's compliance history rather than judging each application in isolation. 250, if a property is the subject of an active compliance order, or a civil, criminal, or administrative citation from the City, the registration will be denied. The same look-back bars registration if the property had a short-term rental application denied or a registration revoked at any point in the preceding 12 months, meaning a single denial or revocation effectively benches the property from the program for a full year regardless of what caused the earlier action.

Once a registration is approved, it remains vulnerable on similar grounds: the City may revoke it for fraud, misrepresentation, or a false statement contained in the application itself or in how the rental is actually operated on the ground. 250, any other part of the City Code, or state or federal law, on top of whatever remedies the City Code otherwise provides. Because the 12-month bar and the revocation grounds work together, a host who loses a registration for a Code violation is not just out for that violation; the loss itself becomes the basis for denying any new application filed at that address within the following year, creating a compounding penalty for repeat problems at the same property.