Short-Term Residential Occupancy (STRO)

STRO means the occupancy of a dwelling unit or part thereof for less than one month. The STRO Ordinance defines a month as a period of consecutive days from the first calendar day of occupancy in any month to the same calendar day in the next month following or the last day of the next month following if no corresponding calendar day exists. For example, a check-in on Jan. 31 and check-out on Feb. 28 would be a month stay, whereas a check-in on Feb. 1 and check-out on Feb. 28 would not be a month.

Yes, the Ordinance applies to all dwelling units used for short-term residential occupancy in the City of San Diego regardless of base zoning designation.

If your property is located in the City of San Diego and is rented out for less than one month per guest stay, you must obtain a Transient Occupancy Tax Certificate and collect and remit Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). This applies to STRO properties of any kind (i.e. houses, condos, rooms, or spaces) rented directly by the owner/operator, by property management companies or via internet travel services.
If you are renting property for less than a month at a time in the City of San Diego and do not have a TOT Certificate, you are not in compliance with the San Diego Municipal Code (SDMC); there are no exceptions.

Additionally, property owners who rent out all or a portion of their property for more than 6 days in a calendar year are responsible for remitting Rental Unit Business Tax to the City of San Diego. For questions regarding TOT and/or Rental Unit Business Tax, please visit the following web pages:

• TOT
• Rental Unit Tax

Effective May 1, 2023 a STRO license will be required to operate a STRO within the City of San Diego.

No. The San Diego Municipal Code prohibits using ADUs for short-term rental and will result in a Code violation. Only permitted companion units in existence before the Sept.  2017 prohibition may be used as an STRO.

The following are prohibited for use as STRO:

• Income-restricted affordable housing units;
• Student housing, dormitories and Single-Room-Occupancy buildings;
• Legally established Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs); which are a specific type of "inlaw" or "granny flat" approved by the Development Services Department;
• Sleeping quarters in most shipping containers and outdoor areas, including tipis (teepees) and tree houses;
• Sleeping quarters in vans or recreational vehicles (RVs). RVs are not considered residential units;
• Non-residential areas within buildings, such as living/sleeping quarters added in garages without proper permits;
• Commercial office/retail or industrial (warehouse) spaces; and
• Boats or similar watercraft.

You can host short-term rentals in the residential portion of a live/work unit or "artist live/work unit," if you are a permanent resident of that unit and both live in AND host short-term rental guests exclusively in the "live" area of the unit. Short-term residential occupancy (e.g. sleeping, lounging/resting, or cooking areas) is NOT allowed in the "work" portion of the live/work or artist live/work unit. Additionally, you may not reside in the "work" area and use the "live" area of the live/work or artist live/work unit for STRO.

No. An STRO may only be hosted in areas permitted for residential use. For example, short-term rentals may not be held in an institutional, commercial or industrial building unless a specific portion of the building is authorized as a residential dwelling unit.

No. Vehicles (including RVs and Camper Vans) and temporary structures (such as tents, sheds, tree houses, etc.) may not be used for an STRO. 

Using a dwelling unit for STRO without a license after the implementation date is a violation of the STRO ordinance and will likely result in regulatory actions. The actions may include the issuance of a Notice of Violation with an assessment of penalties. Operating an STRO without a license will jeopardize a host’s ability to obtain an STRO license in the future.

Proof of residence may be any of the following, provided that it shows the hostname and dwelling unit address as the host mailing address: mailing label from a magazine, DMV registration, payment coupon (return portion) from any of the following SDG&E, phone, cable, water and sewer bill, etc.

It is recommended you discuss with the platform(s) you use about available assistance and requirements for continued use of their websites. 

STRO of 21 to 89 days per year is not allowed under the STRO Ordinance. Although whole home STRO for an aggregate total of more than 20 days per year requires a Tier 3 or Tier 4 STRO license, hosts with a Tier 3 or Tier 4 license must rent a dwelling for a minimum of 90 days each year to maintain the license. Quarterly reports demonstrating utilization must be submitted to the City and those Tier 3 or Tier 4 hosts who do not utilize the dwelling unit for a minimum of 90 days per year will be at risk at having the license revoked.  

However, if the dwelling unit is the host’s primary residence that they occupy for no less than 275 days per year, than a Tier 2 license could be obtained while still allowing 70 days of whole home STRO.  

The STRO Ordinance requires all hosts with a Tier 3 or Tier 4 license to use the license a minimum of 90 days each year during the term of the license and submit quarterly reports to the City Manager containing the number of days the dwelling unit, or any portion thereof, was used for short-term residential occupancy to demonstrate utilization. The ordinance does not include any exceptions to this requirement. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in license revocation.  

Home share means the short-term residential occupancy occurs in either the host’s primary residence or a separate dwelling unit on the same premises as the host’s primary residence. This may include duplex, triplex, or quadplex properties as well as eligible accessory dwelling units when the host resides on-site.

Whole home means short-term residential occupancy of the host’s entire dwelling unit while the host is not physically present and residing in the dwelling unit.

If you are the permanent resident, reside onsite and are absent for 90 days or less per calendar year, you would apply for a Tier 2 license. 

Yes. If you are renting the room(s) for more than 20 days per year and are the permanent resident that is absent no more than 90 days per calendar year, you would obtain a Tier 2 license for the dwelling unit.

Tier 3 (outside Mission Beach) or Tier 4 (within Mission Beach) license depending on where your property is located, as the host does not reside onsite for at least 275 days per calendar year. 

If the college student met the requirements of a host, the college student could apply as the host. In this case, a Tier 2 license would apply if the college student resided onsite at least 275 days per year. With a Tier 2 license, the STRO could be rented as a whole home STRO for up to 90 days per calendar year when the host does not reside onsite. 

If the host was planning on operating an STRO for 20 days or less per year, a Tier 1 license would be applicable. A host does not need to reside onsite with a Tier 1 license. 

The license application period is open for Tier 1, 2, & 3 licenses. The application period for Tier 4 is closed. Apply for an STRO license to create your account and submit an STRO license application. It is recommended for citizens to sign up to receive STRO updates by entering your email address in the "Receive Email Updates" section on the top right side of this page.

A host is defined as a natural person with the legal right to occupy the dwelling unit and allow short-term residential occupancy. A host may include the owner or a lessee if the lease allows for subleasing for less than one month. A host may only hold one license at a time, and a host may not operate more than one dwelling unit for STRO at a time within the City of San Diego.

All hosts must have a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) certificate, a Rental Unit Business Tax account, if applicable, and must be in current compliance with the City’s TOT requirements (i.e., not owing back taxes for unpaid TOT).

License applications will not be processed for dwelling units with pending enforcement actions issued by the City for violations of any provision of the San Diego Municipal Code. See  Regulation Defining a Pending Enforcement Action.

There is no cost to obtain a TOT Certificate. Please visit the TOT webpage for additional information about TOT compliance.

No; Operator has a different definition than a Host. For purposes of TOT, an Operator is defined as the Person who is the proprietor of the Hotel, Recreational Vehicle Park, or Campground, whether in the capacity of owner, lessee, sublessee, mortgagee in possession, licensee, or any other capacity. “Operator” includes a managing agent, a resident manager, or a resident agent, of any type or character other than an employee without management responsibility. ( SDMC §35.0102).

For purposes of STRO, a Host is defined as a natural person with the legal right to occupy the dwelling unit and allow short-term residential occupancy. ( SDMC §510.0102) A Host and Operator may be the same but are not required to be under the TOT or STRO requirements.

Under the TOT requirements, an Operator is required to maintain their records; this includes records of TOT remittance to the City. During the STRO license application process, Hosts/applicants will be required to upload these records to support the issuance of priority points for TOT past payments – only the Operator would have these records. Additionally, all Hosts/applicants will be required to certify under penalty of perjury that the information included in their STRO license application is accurate.

Rental Unit Business Tax comprises a base fee and a per unit fee. The total Rental Unit Business Tax for your property depends on the number of units. View the Rental Unit Business Tax fees table.

No, a host may only hold one license at a time and may not operate more than one dwelling unit for short-term residential occupancy at a time within the City of San Diego. A host is defined as a natural person who has the legal right to occupy the dwelling unit and to allow short-term residential occupancy. A host could be the property owner or a lessee with the legal right to occupy the dwelling unit and allow subleasing for less than a month. Each dwelling unit used as an STRO requires its own license and its own host. 

The property manager can be designated the local contact who shall be responsible for actively discouraging and preventing any nuisance activity at the premises. The local contact shall respond to a complainant in person or by telephone within one hour for all reported complaints and shall take action to resolve the matter. 

No. One license will not be sufficient for all owned properties operated as an STRO. An STRO license is required for each dwelling unit used for short-term residential occupancy. If an owner has multiple dwelling units used as STROs, the owner will need to designate a lessee as a host who has the legal right to occupy the dwelling unit and to allow subleasing for less than a month. This lessee will have to apply to be the host of an STRO. The owner can be the designated local contact who shall be responsible for actively discouraging and preventing any nuisance activity at the premises. The local contact shall respond to a complainant in person or by telephone within one hour for all reported complaints and shall take action to resolve the matter.

No, only one completed and accurate application per dwelling unit will be considered for a license, regardless of the Tier.

Application and License fees were approved by the San Diego City Council in Oct. 2021 and are as follows:

Note that all fees are non-refundable. 

Since the total number of Tier 4 applications received was greater than the number of licenses available, completed applications will be weighted for "good actor" priority as outlined in this memo. The lottery for Tier 4 hosts was conducted and hosts were notified on Dec. 16, 2022 - Tier 4 Lottery Results. Tier 4 license issuance will be done via computer-generated randomization and will be conducted by a third party or department independent of the Office of the City Treasurer. Additional information on the lottery process: STRO Lottery Process Video.

A host can only hold one license at a time. However, if a Tier 4 host is not selected in the lottery, they can reapply for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 license pending their business model changes and meets the requirements of the tier that they are applying for. A new application will need to be submitted, including payment of the Tier 1 or Tier 2 application and license fee. The Tier 4 application fee is non-refundable.