Monterey Park, CA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Monterey Park Municipal Code Chapter 21.09 regulates short-term rentals, defined at Section 21.09.020 as a dwelling unit other than a hotel or motel room rented for less than thirty consecutive days. Section 21.09.060 sets the fee structure generally: except as otherwise provided by applicable law, all fees applicable to the short-term rental chapter are established by City Council resolution rather than fixed dollar amounts in the code itself. Section 21.09.070 spells out what an application must include beyond that fee. Subsection (A) requires the application be filed by a natural person and accompanied by an application fee.

Subsection (B)(3) requires the applicant to already hold a transient occupancy registration certificate issued under the city's tax code, tying the short-term rental permit directly to the Chapter 3.26 hotel tax registration described in Section 3.26.040. Subsection (B)(5) requires a surety bond of $1,500, in a form the chapter prescribes or, in unusual circumstances, in a form the City Attorney approves. Section 21.09.130 details what that bond must cover: it must be issued by a surety licensed in California with an A.M. Best rating of at least A-, name the City as obligee, and be conditioned on payment of any administrative fine assessed against the permittee or against a tenant whose occupancy violates the chapter or the code.

A permittee may swap in a substitute bond meeting those requirements at any time, and once the owner stops using the property as a short-term rental and confirms there are no pending enforcement actions, the Director returns the bond within thirty days under Section 21.09.130(C). Applicants also owe a homeowner's or renter's insurance requirement and, if they later amend their nuisance response plan, an amended response plan fee under Section 21.09.050(D).