I own a single family resident in a residential area. I use this home as a vacation rental unit. In other words, I rent it to people who want to stay 1 night or 1 week or 1 month. The neighbors don't like it and have reported me to the city. Code Violations department slapped me with a fine for operating a business without a license. The laws concerning rentals are non-existent in our city. But the code officer is stating that my rental is not the same as someone who rents the home for months. Do I have any legal grounds to stand on? My home is located in Murrieta, CA. They are stating that I would need a conditional use permit to operate a vacation rental in a residential neighborhood.

Hello 80:

Boy, do I like your question! I love being the underdog, fighting the good fight against stupid bureaucrats, who think we work for them, rather than the other way around. What I ESPECIALLY like about your question, is I think you've got a very, very good legal argument.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and this is pretty technical stuff, so you ARE going to need an attorney. I'm sure you can find one who hates the city too.

In the absence of law to the contrary, I see no material difference in landlords who rent by the month, from those who rent by the day. If one is a business, so is the other. If a permit is required by one, it should be required by the other.

Go kick some city butt and make a fortune!

excon

Prepare leases for LONGER periods with option for residents to EASILY OPT Out of the agreement.

I'm not sure how much $ you rent this way - renting longer term is preferable as there is less wear/tear on the property and you have more options for collection.

I live in Texas and also have a vacation rental. We have recently filed an application with the state to pay Occupancy Tax. I would think this would be a license of sorts -- especially if you are collecting and remitting money for the state (and perhaps county or city)... you might want to look into that and make sure you are covering all of your bases and doing what you need to be doing... so they can't get you on that technicality!

Good luck with the city... and the neighbors!

Try to think about this from the neighbors' perspective. Do you want to live near all kinds of strangers coming and going, who have no interest in the neighborhood or being neighborly? Noise from parties? People on a 3-day vacation behave differently from people who are in this for the long term. They don't care if they throw trash on the street or nick and ding the neighbors' cars. They don't even care if they're cited for a noise complaint. They'll take off. There's a reason hotels have front desks and security guards.

I have a vacation rental home in Palm Springs, CA. I have obtained the permit to operate a business for my vacation rental. Even so, I am very concerned about my neighbors - who I genuinely like and respect - and have strict rules about who I will rent to. No parties over 6 people; no partying after 10pm on weekdays and 12am on weekends. I recently received a wake up call from my neighbor's perspective. In LA where I live full-time, my neighbor started renting his house as a vacation property. It is in a nice residential area near Sunset Blvd. The partying starts at 2am after the clubs close, and they went last night - on a weekday - until 6am. I called the police, I tried talking to the renters - they didn't care, they were only in town for a few days and wanted to make the most of it. Drugs, girls, they were parked illegally on the street. The music did not stop. Next morning, there was trash all over the sidewalk and street in front of the house. Broken bottles, bags of overflowing trash with food. They don't care about the noise complaint. They'll never be back here. But you as owner - if the police are called and drugs or other illegal substances are found - could be in trouble.