For anyone who hopes to use their property as a short-term rental in the City of San Diego, the application period is set to open on Oct. 3. By May 1, 2023, property owners in the City of San Diego who wish to use their property as a short-term rental will need a license. Before applying, there’s a few things San Diego's city treasurer wants applicants to know.
Step 1: Get a Transient Occupancy Tax Certificate
According to the city’s website, the first step is for applicants to make sure they have a Transient Occupancy Tax Certificate. It’s required for short-term resident occupancy properties, like houses, condos and rooms. That information can be found by clicking here.
Step 2: Make Sure You're in "Paid Status"
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Next, applicants need to be sure their rental unit business taxes for their property are in paid status.
Local Housing Stories
Step 3: Decide Which Tier to Apply For
To apply for a license, there are four tiers to consider based on your property and what you wish to rent out in a short-term capacity.
Tier 1 is for properties that are rented 20 days or less per year. While guests are present, the owner doesn’t need to be there.
Tier 2 is for property owners who rent a room or rooms more than 20 days a year as long as the owner or permanent resident is onsite.
According to the city, applications for Tiers 1 and 2 will remain indefinitely and there are no limits on them, but that’s not the case for Tiers 3 and 4. There will be 5,416 licenses available for Tier 3 and 1,081 licenses for Tier 4, according to the treasurer's office, based on the most recent demographic and socioeconomic housing estimates from SANDAG.
For license holders under Tiers 3 and 4, a two-night minimum stay is required and properties will be rented out more than 20 days out of the year.
Tier 3 is for applicants who do not have their home in Mission Beach, while Tier 4 is for applicants who do have a home in Mission Beach. Under Tier 4, the number of licenses issued will not exceed 30% of the community planning area.
With the above information, applicants can start the application process. Hosts should be prepared to enter information like the address and number of bedrooms in your property, contact information, as well as tax information too. Plus, hosts will be asked to estimate the number days they plan to rent out their property and where guests can book to stay there.
The Office of the City Treasurer provided a checklist for applicants that can be found by clicking here.
