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Short-Term Rentals
Background
Short-term rental is the practice of renting a portion of or an entire home to a person or group of people for periods of less than 30 nights. In recent years, there has been exponential growth of short-term rentals offered through “sharing economy” websites such as Airbnb and VRBO, among others.
Prior to February 19, 2019, the Town of Los Gatos Zoning ordinance was silent on the subject of short-term rentals as a permitted use in any of the Town’s zones, which by default prohibited them from occurring within the Town’s jurisdiction.
On February 19, 2019, the Town Council approved an ordinance allowing regulated short-term rentals, designed to balance the rights of homeowners to rent their homes on a short-term basis while also protecting neighbors from nuisance situations. In order to legally host a short-term rental, you must adhere to
Los Gatos Municipal Code Article XIV – Short-Term Rentals. The ordinance went into effect on March 21,2019.
Short-Term Rental Licensing Process
1. Submit a Business License/TOT Registration Form to the Finance Department with a Short-Term Rental Application for Planning Division review (including all applicable submittal requirements). 2. Once both applications have been reviewed for approval, fees are collected.
3. The Business License with Short-Term Rental License Number is issued. 4. Annual renewal of the Business License with Short-Term Rental License Number is required at the end of each calendar year.
5. The Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Remittance Form is required to be submitted every quarter to the Finance Department with tax payments, if applicable.
- Do I need to pay Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) for my short-term rental?
- Do I need to submit a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Remittance form if I did not rent out my short-term rental this quarter and no tax is due?
- Do I need to submit a quarterly Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Remittance Form if I only list my short-term rental on Airbnb and Airbnb remits TOT to the Town on my behalf?
- I can't find the Certificate of Occupancy for my property. What can I do?
- Do I need a Town business license?
- Do I need to own the property I intend to use for short-term rental?
- Does my short-term rental need to be my primary residence?
- Are there limits on the number of days per year that I can host a short-term rental?
- Can I apply for both a hosted and un-hosted short-term rental license?
- Can I use my accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental?
- Can I have multiple short-term rental properties in Town?
- Is there a limited number of short-term rentals allowed in Los Gatos?
- Are there parking regulations for short-term rental guests?
- Can my short-term rental license be revoked?
- Is there a penalty for failing to register a short-term rental with the Town?
- Can I host a wedding or special event at my short-term rental?
- My property is part of a homeowner association. Can I use it as a short-term rental?
- Can I have a short-term rental in an apartment building?
- Is the number of short-term rental guests limited?
- Do I need to be on call to manage my short-term rental 24/7 or have a representative to do so?
- Do I need to provide my short-term rental guests with copies of local Town rules?
- Do I need to maintain records for my short-term rental?
- How can I file a complaint regarding a short-term rental?
Contacts
• For questions regarding the short-term rental license application process, please contact the Planning Department at (408) 354-6872 or planning@losgatosca.gov.
• For questions regarding short-term rental business licenses, please contact the Finance Department at
(408) 354-6835 or businesslicense@losgatosca.gov.
• For questions regarding short-term rental complaints, please contact the Code Compliance Department at
(408) 399-5720 or codecompliance@losgatosca.gov.