Marin County · checked 2026-09-16
Can you BnB it in Novato?
AllowedNovato allows short-term rentals but a city license is required before renting all or part of a dwelling, and JADUs and SRO units may not be used as short-term rentals. Night caps, residency rules, and what happens to a license when the property sells are set in council-adopted program documents and unretrieved code subsections that has not been read yet.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseA permit or license is required before operating.L18-12.1 · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Caps and limitsNo cap language verified. Sec. 8-12.1 defers to council-adopted 'Program documents' for definitions, procedures, and requirements, and the copy of the chapter we could open cuts off there, so any night cap or license cap likely lives in those program documents or in subsections we have not yet read.L1Novato Municipal Code Sec. 8-12 Short-Term Rental Licensing Program · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Transfer when the home sellsNo transfer clause could be read. The copy of Sec. 8-12 we could open was incomplete, and 8-12.1 defers procedures and requirements to council-adopted Program documents, where any transfer rule likely lives. Not verified.L1Novato Municipal Code Sec. 8-12 Short-Term Rental Licensing Program · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Read the code text →
In the city's own words
8-12.1“must obtain a Short Term Rental license from the City as a condition precedent to renting all or a portion of a dwelling unit” source
8-12.1“8-12.1 Purpose and Intent. Short Term Rentals as defined in the Program documents...must obtain a Short Term Rental license from the City as a condition” source
19.34.031“A junior accessory dwelling unit shall not be used as a short-term rental.” source
19.34.126“Tenancy of SRO shall be limited to thirty (30) or more days. Short-term rentals are not permitted.” source
Citation: Novato Municipal Code Sec. 8-12 Short-Term Rental Licensing Program
Check a specific address
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 2026-09-16 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.