New rules for San Diego short-term rentals in effect

SAN DIEGO -- New rules for operating short-term rentals in San Diego take effect May 1. 

Under the deadline, short-term rental property owners must have a license issued by the city. 

Karl Rand is a host and was instrumental in coming up with the permitting process.

“I am very optimistic. It’s going to solve a lot of the problems that we’ve had,” Rand said.

Under the new rules, there are four types of licenses. Tier 1 for part-time rentals, tier 2 for rentals that are a portion of a home, tier 3 for whole-home rentals – everywhere except Mission Beach, which is in Tier 4.

And only 1% of properties in San Diego can be short-term rentals except in Mission Beach where 30% of properties are allowed.

“By limiting the number of units, they can be used as vacation rentals that helps with the housing supply issue and then through the enforcement mechanism that will help with a nuisance issue like trash noise,” Rand said.

The license is issued through a lottery system. Rand says 90% of applicants received one. On the city’s website, as of May 1, 7,002 licenses have been issued. Mission Beach, though, is maxed out with a wai...