Journal ·
Glendale Short-Term Rental Rules: The Home-Sharing License and the Vacation Rental Ban
Glendale allows a short-term rental only when the host lives in the home during the guest's stay, and it bans the whole-house vacation rental in every zone of the city. Chapter 5.56 of the Glendale Municipal Code calls the permitted version home-sharing, requires a city license for it, and adds a rule most buyers never hear about: home-sharing is not allowed at all on a property that has an accessory dwelling unit.
Are short-term rentals legal in Glendale?
Only one kind. The Glendale Municipal Code, Chapter 5.56 covers any rental of a dwelling for 30 consecutive days or less and splits it into two categories. Home-sharing means a stay of 30 days or less where at least one host lives on site. A vacation rental is the same stay with no host living there. Section 5.56.020(B) makes vacation rentals a prohibited use in all zones throughout the city, and the zoning code repeats the ban in its own residential tables, including in Ordinance No. 6034, adopted December 3, 2024, which states that vacation rentals as defined in section 5.56.030 are prohibited in all zones.
The chapter's stated purpose explains the line. Section 5.56.010 says the rules exist to help maintain adequate and affordable housing stock for residents in line with the city's housing element. The council introduced the ban on September 10, 2019 and adopted it on December 10, 2019, and the current code history note cites Ordinance No. 5972, dated September 14, 2021.
What counts as a host who lives on site
The definitions in section 5.56.030 are narrower than the word "host" suggests on a booking app.
A host is a lawful occupant who has lived in the dwelling for at least 60 consecutive days with the intent to make it a residence. An owner who closes escrow on a Friday cannot list the house as a hosted stay the following week. The 60 days have to run first.
Lives on site means being physically present in the dwelling and carrying on daily life there: sleeping overnight, preparing or eating meals, bathing, washing and dressing. A host who keeps a room in the house but sleeps somewhere else while guests are in residence is describing a vacation rental, and that use is banned.
A guest is anyone paying to occupy the dwelling for 30 consecutive days or less. A stay longer than 30 consecutive days falls outside Chapter 5.56.
The ADU rule that changes what a buyer is pricing
Section 5.56.020(A) permits home-sharing in single-family houses, condominiums and multiple-residential buildings, then carves out a property type that matters to a lot of current buyers. Home-sharing is not allowed on any property with an accessory dwelling unit, and the code spells out that the ban covers both the primary house and the ADU.
That runs against a common plan: buy a Glendale house, build or keep a backyard unit, live in one and rent the other by the night. Under Chapter 5.56 the ADU knocks out short-term hosting on the whole lot, including the rooms of the main house. For ADUs on single-family lots, state law gives cities room for this. Government Code section 66315 bars most extra standards on an ADU, except that a local agency may require that the property be used for rentals of terms 30 days or longer.
For a buyer the practical reading is simple. An ADU in Glendale can produce long-term rent. It cannot produce nightly rent, and neither can the house it sits behind. How the city handles the unit itself is covered in the Glendale ADU guide.
The same subsection also bars home-sharing wherever law or an agreement prohibits it, including affordable housing covenants, leases or rental agreements, and covenants, conditions and restrictions.
What the home-sharing license requires
Section 5.56.040 sets the application, and the city's home-sharing page sends applicants to the GlendalePermits.org portal. The host has to:
- Complete a transient occupancy registration certificate with the city.
- Provide proof of residency to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director.
- Name a local contact person or a property management company available 24 hours a day to respond to emergencies, complaints or violations.
- Sign an affidavit agreeing to comply with the chapter.
- Where a homeowners' association governs the property, provide written documentation that the association approves of the home-sharing.
- Agree to indemnify and defend the City of Glendale against claims, fines and penalties arising from the use.
The HOA item is worth reading next to state law. Civil Code section 4741 stops an association from banning rentals in general, but subsection (c) leaves it free to prohibit rentals of 30 days or less. In a Glendale condo, then, the association can end the conversation before the city ever sees an application.
Operating rules once the license is issued
Section 5.56.050 governs the stay itself, and a buyer who plans to host would operate under these rules:
| Rule in 5.56.050 | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| (D) License number on every ad | A listing without the number violates the chapter |
| (E) No commercial events | No weddings, commercial parties or group gatherings |
| (F) No exterior signs | Nothing on the house advertising home-sharing |
| (I) Keep records three years | Records kept for tax compliance |
| (K) Fire and CO equipment | Smoke and CO detectors, extinguishers, exit routes |
| (L) Guest code of conduct | Written rules given to every guest |
Subsection (B) also pulls in the city's party rules in Chapter 9.22, so a loud weekend at a licensed home-share is a violation of two chapters at once.
The tax on every stay
Glendale's Transient Occupancy Tax is 12% of the rent charged, under section 4.32.030 of the TOT chapter. That chapter defines a hotel broadly enough to include home-sharing and defines a transient as anyone staying 30 consecutive calendar days or less. Section 4.32.060 requires an operator to register within 30 days of opening and to display the registration certificate, which is the same certificate the license application asks for.
How large the market was when the ban was written
The ban came to the City Council for adoption on December 10, 2019, and the staff report for that meeting gives an official count. Airbnb told the city it had about 360 hosts and about 550 listings in Glendale. A third-party compliance firm found 679 listings covering 554 unique rental units as of September 2019, up from 510 listings a year earlier, at a median nightly rate of $210. Staff estimated that at least 190 of the 550 Airbnb listings were likely in multi-family buildings. Airbnb suggested caps rather than a ban, such as four units or 25% of a building, whichever is less. The code the city adopted uses no caps: it bans the unhosted category outright.
Glendale next to Pasadena and Burbank
Glendale borders both cities, and the three give three different answers. The table compares Glendale with Pasadena; Burbank follows below it.
| Question | Glendale | Pasadena |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-house stay with owner away | Banned in all zones | Allowed up to 90 days a year with a permit |
| Residency the host must show | 60 consecutive days in the home | Nine or more months a year |
| Hotel tax | 12% TOT | 12.11% TOT plus TBID assessment |
Pasadena's permit system, including its un-hosted category, is laid out in the Pasadena short-term rental guide and on the city's short-term rental regulations page, with the 90-day un-hosted limit set in Ordinance No. 7317. Burbank takes a third approach, a ban by omission from its zoning code, covered in the Burbank short-term rental guide.
Q: Can I buy a Glendale house and keep the seller's Airbnb running?
Not as a whole-house rental, which is banned. As a hosted stay, only after you have lived there 60 consecutive days, obtained your own license and registered for TOT, and only if the lot has no ADU. Income a seller reports from nightly stays is worth checking against those rules before it shapes an offer, which is part of the review on the buyer's page.
Q: I am selling. Should I mention past short-term rentals?
If the house was used for nightly stays, the license history and TOT filings are facts a buyer will ask about, and unlicensed use is the kind of issue covered in the disclosure discussion on the seller's page. A home valuation for a Glendale house should rest on long-term rent, since that is the use Glendale's code does not restrict by length of stay.
This article is general information drawn from the Glendale Municipal Code and City of Glendale publications, not legal or tax advice. Codes, fees and tax rates change, and a specific building can carry covenants or lease terms not discussed here. Confirm current rules with the City of Glendale before relying on any figure. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
Looking at homes in Glendale? Start with the Glendale area guide and current Glendale listings.