County jurisdiction · checked 2026-09-13
Can you BnB it in unincorporated Imperial County?
No STR ordinanceUnincorporated Imperial County has no short-term rental ordinance, so the county code sets no short-term rental permit, cap or zone rule. Stays of 30 days or less are subject to the county transient occupancy tax of 8 percent.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseNo permit is required; the code has no short-term rental permit program.L1Imperial County Code Title 4 Chapter 4.16 Transient Occupancy Tax, secs. 4.16.020 and 4.16.030 (Ord. 1397 sec. 1, 2005; Ord. 1341 sec. 9, 2001; prior code sec. 25202). No short-term rental ordinance found in Title 5 or Title 9. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Transfer when the home sellsCode silent on transfer. Imperial County has no short-term rental permit or licence for unincorporated areas, so nothing transfers or lapses on sale. A buyer who rents to transients becomes an operator under Chapter 4.16 and must register in their own name. If the property carries a conditional use permit under Title 9 Division 2 Chapter 3 for a lodging use, that permit is a land use entitlement whose transfer treatment has not been read yet.L1none (no short-term rental permit exists) · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Read the code text →
In the county's own words
4.16.020“any person 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
4.16.030“each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of eight percent of the rent charged by the operator” source
Citation: Imperial County Code Title 4 Chapter 4.16 Transient Occupancy Tax, secs. 4.16.020 and 4.16.030 (Ord. 1397 sec. 1, 2005; Ord. 1341 sec. 9, 2001; prior code sec. 25202). No short-term rental ordinance found in Title 5 or Title 9.
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The checker resolves any California address to its jurisdiction and returns these rules with their verification level. Where a county or city publishes a licensed-rental registry or parcel map (Riverside County, San Diego, Palm Springs, and a growing list), it also runs parcel spacing, permit cap, and registry checks.
How this page was verified
Verified from the municipal code (level 1), 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.