San Mateo County · checked 2026-09-13
Can you BnB it in East Palo Alto?
No STR ordinanceEast Palo Alto has no short-term rental ordinance in its municipal code, so no short-term rental permit exists. A host who rents to stays of 30 days or less must still register and pay the 12 percent transient occupancy tax under Chapter 3.68.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseNo permit is required; the code has no short-term rental permit program.L2East Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 3.68 Transient Occupancy Tax, sections 3.68.020 and 3.68.030 (Ord. 230 secs. 2 and 3, 1998; prior code secs. 3-3.402 and 3-3.403). No short-term rental ordinance found. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Transfer when the home sellsCode silent on transfer. There is no short-term rental permit or licence in the East Palo Alto Municipal Code, so there is nothing to transfer on sale. A buyer inherits only the general obligation to register as a transient occupancy tax operator under Chapter 3.68 if the property is rented to transients. Rent stabilization and just cause for eviction rules in Title 14 may bear on converting a tenant occupied unit and were not researched here.L2none (no short-term rental permit exists) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Read the code text →
In the city's own words
3.68.020“any individual who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days or less” source
3.68.030“each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of twelve percent (12%) of the rent charged by the operator” source
Citation: East Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 3.68 Transient Occupancy Tax, sections 3.68.020 and 3.68.030 (Ord. 230 secs. 2 and 3, 1998; prior code secs. 3-3.402 and 3-3.403). No short-term rental ordinance found.
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How this page was verified
From the jurisdiction's official page (level 2), checked on 2026-09-13 by the CanIBnB research desk. Research is AI assisted and human reviewed; the method, the level system, and the re-check schedule are on the How we verify page. If anything here is wrong, report it and it goes in the public corrections log.