City Watch: Santa Monica
Santa Monica’s Home-Sharing Ordinance bans entire-home rentals under 30 days unless the primary resident sleeps on-site. Every host needs a business license, transient-occupancy tax registration, neighbor notices, and compliance inspections.
- Only true home-sharing is legal for short stays.
- City audits booking platforms weekly and levies joint fines.
- Permit loss after two violations.
This beach city is the template for “host present only” rules. Enforcement is aggressive, but ASTRO keeps a compliant playbook so members protect revenue while lobbying for pro-owner carve-outs.
Current requirements
- Primary residence proof: Utility bills and ID must match the dwelling, plus at least one room left for the host.
- Business license + TOT: $100+ in fees plus 14% hotel tax remitted monthly.
- Neighbor hotline: Hosts must share a 24/7 contact and respond within 45 minutes.
- Platform liability: Airbnb/VRBO delist unlicensed homes, so rogue listings disappear fast.
ASTRO’s Santa Monica cohort focuses on three things: bulletproof paperwork, hybrid calendars (30+ day stays plus ASTRO member swaps), and political cover. We provide inspection checklists, complaint-response scripts, and a rapid-text network so operators back each other if the city shows up.
We’re also coordinating with Westside owners to push for certified-operator permits tied to safety standards instead of residency. The city already carved out allowances for “home-shares with ADUs”—we’re extending that logic to professionally run duplexes.
- What do members get? Toolkits, governance tracking, and a trusted exchange.
- How fast can we launch? Paste Markdown, run the pave script, verify.