Placer County Short-Term Rental Ordinance

Buying a home at Lake Tahoe gives you the added benefit of making your property an investment. You can receive a good return and capitalize on the time you’re are not using your vacation property. Rental platforms like Air B&B and VRBO have made it easy to manage the vacation rental process yourself. However, it is important to understand the Placer County Rental Ordinance.

As the popularity of short-term rentals at Lake Tahoe has grown, Placer County has stepped in to regulate the process. A short-term rental is defined as a residential unit rented for 30 days or less. It is typically advertised as a vacation rental on web-based platforms.

Transient Occupancy Tax

Placer County currently requires a Transient Occupancy Tax certificate to rent your vacation property in Placer County. Property owners must register and collect Transient Occupancy Tax within 30 days of making the unit available for short-term renters. New regulations adopted last year required those registered to read and acknowledge existing county ordinances on trash, noise and parking.

Homeowners were required to post the "Good Neighbor' flyer in rental properties to educate short-term renters.

New Regulations

Placer County is now proposing to establish more stringent permitting requirements. This will apply to short-term vacation rentals on properties above 5,000 feet in Placer County. The new ordinance will regulate short term rentals by:

• Defining quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
• Requiring properties to provide bear bins for garbage.
• Establishing occupancy limits.

Occupancy limits of short-term rentals allow two people per bedroom, with an additional two people allowed to stay in the house. These new limits on occupancy, which take effect at 10 p.m. daily, do not apply to children age 16 or under.

This ordinance is still currently under review, but is expected to pass. With almost 3700 short-term rentals in Eastern Placer County alone, the ordinance will address noise, garbage and parking concerns.

Fire Code Compliance

To ensure compliance with fire codes, fire district staff will conduct a life-safety inspection once every three years. This will ensure homes are equipped with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and that barbecues and outdoor fireplaces are in compliance. There have been a few cases of renters starting fires because of the misuse of barbecues.

The county began working on the ordinance after residents came forward. They urged the county to enforce stricter regulations on property owners. County staff held various public meetings and conducted extensive research about short-term rental ordinances in neighboring jurisdictions.

Retaining Tahoe's Quality of Life

Better regulations will eliminate the trash problem short term rentals pose to our local bear populations. Neighbors can also access a county phone number to make complaints, rather than alert local law enforcement. Recently Air B&B also moved to crack down on party houses.

The residents of Lake Tahoe and Truckee will be able to retain the quality of life they have come to expect. When buying a retreat nestled away in the mountains, we do so to get away from the noise of the city. These regulations will eliminate the negative impacts short-term tenants have on the environment.

Whether you are considering buying or selling your resort home at Lake Tahoe, I would love to help you. Contact me today!