Pomona Night Caps Rules (2026): What You Need to Know

Many California cities that restrict short-term rentals use a night-cap model — allowing hosts to rent their primary residence for a limited number of nights per year. Los Angeles permits 120 nights of unhosted STR activity annually; Pasadena uses a primary-residency requirement that effectively caps unhosted rentals at roughly 90 nights; Santa Monica allows hosted rentals year-round but limits unhosted rentals. Pomona has not adopted any such approach. The city's zoning code does not list short-term rental as a permitted or conditionally permitted use in any residential zone, creating a blanket prohibition with no night-cap carve-out.

This means Pomona residents have no legal pathway to rent their home, a room, an accessory dwelling unit, or any residential unit for fewer than 30 consecutive days, regardless of how many nights per year they would do so. There is no hosted exception for renting while present in the home, no special event allowance during major Fairplex events, and no seasonal permit for holiday weekends. The 30-consecutive-day minimum applies to all residential rental activity throughout the city.

The absence of a night-cap program is a deliberate policy choice driven by housing preservation concerns. Pomona's housing market — characterized by relatively affordable prices compared to neighboring cities and a high proportion of renters — makes the city particularly sensitive to the loss of housing units to commercial STR operations. Advocacy groups and some residents have periodically requested that the City Council explore a limited STR program, but as of the last verified date no ordinance establishing night caps has been introduced or adopted.