Short-Term Rental Regulations · Palm Springs, CA
Is Palm Springs short-term-rental friendly?
Palm Springs permits short-term rentals but regulates them tightly. Owners need an annual Vacation Rental Registration Certificate, capped at one per owner, and new permits are refused in organized neighborhoods that have already reached the 20% certificate cap. Each property is also limited to 26 rental contracts per calendar year for new permittees, while grandfathered permits keep 32 plus 4 third-quarter contracts. Operators must staff a 24/7 local contact who can reach the home in person within 30 minutes and remit 11.5% transient occupancy tax plus a 1% regional tourism assessment on a monthly basis. The market is legal but restrictive, and permit availability depends heavily on the specific neighborhood.
Last updated: . Every fact links to its official source.
Town-by-town rules
| Town | Permit required? | Annual cost | Primary-residence / night-cap limits | Lodging tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Springs | Renting a home for periods of 28 consecutive days or less requires a City of Palm Springs Vacation Rental Registration Certificate before any rental use (Palm Springs Municipal Code Chapter 5.25, restated by Ordinance 2075). Certificates are annual, limited to one per owner, not issued to business entities, and allowed only for single-family dwellings, with vacation rental and homesharing lodging prohibited in apartments. The City most recently amended Chapter 5.25 by Ordinance 2133, adopted July 8, 2026, which also added Section 3.24.085 implementing California's Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2025. (City of Palm Springs, Vacation Rentals program page (opens in a new tab), City of Palm Springs Ordinance 2075 (Palm Springs Municipal Code Chapter 5.25, Vacation Rentals) (opens in a new tab)) | The Vacation Rental new and annual registration fee is $1,046, effective December 1, 2025, per City Resolution No. 25344 adopted September 25, 2025. Junior Vacation Rental registration is $523 and Homeshare is $261. Other program fees include a $222 certificate transfer fee, a $647 Land Use Permit for estate homes, and a $1,324 Administrative Appeals Board appeal fee. Registration must be renewed annually, and application fees are nonrefundable. (City of Palm Springs, Vacation Rentals program page (fee schedule, Resolution 25344) (opens in a new tab)) | There is no primary-residence requirement for vacation rentals (homesharing is the owner-occupied track, requiring the owner to live on-site during the stay). Instead, every application must designate a Local Contact Person, meaning the owner, a local property manager, or the owner's agent, who is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can respond in person to the property within 30 minutes; the application must verify this capability. A 35-mile residency or management radius was not found in the cited official materials; the operative standard in Ordinance 2075 is the 30-minute in-person response requirement. (City of Palm Springs Ordinance 2075 (Palm Springs Municipal Code Chapter 5.25, Vacation Rentals) (opens in a new tab), City of Palm Springs, Vacation Rentals program page (opens in a new tab)) | Vacation rental operators collect and remit City transient occupancy tax at 11.5% of rent (in effect since January 1, 2002; the 13.5% rate applies only to group meeting hotels), plus the 1% Greater Palm Springs Tourism Business Improvement District assessment on gross short-term rental revenue for stays under 28 days, which has applied to vacation rentals since July 1, 2021. A TOT and TBID combined return is due every month even if the property was not rented, filed online through the City's GovOS portal, with penalties and interest for late payment. (City of Palm Springs, Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) page (opens in a new tab), City of Palm Springs, Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) page (opens in a new tab)) |
"Not found" means the restriction was not located in the linked official materials reviewed as of the update date. It does not prove that no later, uncodified, parcel-specific, or special-district rule applies.
Good to know
- Palm Springs: The City caps Vacation Rental Registration Certificates at 20% of all residential dwelling units per organized neighborhood. Applications in neighborhoods at or above 20% are returned and can only join a waitlist, and new certificates are issued first in time, first in right once a neighborhood falls below the cap; existing certificates are not affected. Per-property annual contract caps also apply: no more than 26 rental contracts per calendar year for new permittees, 32 contracts plus up to 4 additional third-quarter contracts for existing permittees under Ordinance 2118 (which canceled a scheduled January 1, 2026 reduction), and 6 contracts for Junior certificates. A certificate is a privilege, not a right, and it expires when the property changes ownership. (City of Palm Springs, Vacation Rental Neighborhood Percentage Information (opens in a new tab), City of Palm Springs Ordinance 2118 (annual cap on vacation rental contracts) (opens in a new tab), City of Palm Springs Ordinance 2075 (Palm Springs Municipal Code Chapter 5.25, Vacation Rentals) (opens in a new tab))
FAQ
Do I need a permit to run a short-term rental in Palm Springs?
Yes. Renting a single-family home, or homesharing a portion of one, for 28 consecutive days or less requires an annual Vacation Rental Registration Certificate from the City's Department of Special Program Compliance before any rental use. Only one certificate is allowed per owner, business entities cannot register, and vacation rental and homesharing lodging is prohibited in apartments.
How many times per year can I rent my Palm Springs home?
New permittees are limited to 26 rental contracts per calendar year. Existing grandfathered permittees may have 32 contracts plus up to 4 additional contracts occurring entirely in the third quarter, under Ordinance 2118, which canceled the planned January 1, 2026 reduction to 26. Junior vacation rental certificates are limited to 6 contracts per year. Any occupancy by people other than the owner counts as a contract even without payment, though owners may designate up to 5 named persons for no-cost stays.
What does the Palm Springs vacation rental permit cost, and how does renewal work?
The vacation rental new and annual registration fee is $1,046, effective December 1, 2025, per City Resolution 25344. Junior certificates cost $523 and homeshare certificates $261; other fees include a $222 transfer fee and a $647 land use permit for estate homes. Registration is annual, so the fee recurs each year, and application fees are nonrefundable.
What taxes do Palm Springs short-term rental owners pay?
Owners or their agents remit 11.5% city transient occupancy tax on guest receipts, plus the 1% Greater Palm Springs Tourism Business Improvement District assessment on gross short-term rental revenue for stays under 28 days. A combined TOT and TBID return is due every month even in months with no rentals, filed through the City's GovOS online portal, and late payment accrues penalties and interest.
General information, not legal advice. Short-term rental rules change, so verify current requirements with the jurisdiction before listing.