California Host Checklist Before Listing

Use this checklist per property, not per host, and date each line when completed. A Los Angeles checklist does not cover a San Francisco property, and a San Francisco checklist does not cover a San Diego property. For a portfolio, complete one checklist per property and review them together monthly. Where a line cannot be completed, mark it pending with the date checked, rather than as done, since a pending line with a date is honest and useful while a done line based on assumption is not.

The checklist assumes California's city-first structure plus SB 346 disclosure. Where a city portal is unclear, ask the city in writing and keep the reply. A written city reply, even a short one, is stronger evidence of diligence than a forum consensus or a platform help page.

First, city permit, certification or tier licence for the address, with number, validity and conditions filed. Second, cap for that city and pattern, with counting period and tracker set up: Los Angeles 120 nights for home sharing, San Francisco 90 nights for unhosted stays, San Diego tier and lottery position where applicable. Third, SB 346 disclosure alignment: listing address, URL, parcel, licence and transient occupancy numbers matching city records on every platform. Fourth, transient occupancy tax collection and remittance setup for the locality, with platform versus host collection confirmed.

Fifth, coastal position where applicable, with coastal authorisation or condition note where required. Sixth, building, condo, homeowners association and lease permission, with any approval in writing. Seventh, safety information and equipment checks for the property. A gap in any of those seven lines should pause listing for the pattern that depends on it, until resolved.

Eighth, listing accuracy: property, pattern hosted or unhosted, capacity, address and permit details matching city records and the actual property. Ninth, platform settings aligned with permit and cap: minimum stay, capacity, house rules and guest limits. Tenth, guest information localised for the property: emergency numbers, exits, waste, parking, quiet hours and a local contact, kept in the unit and in messages. Eleventh, pricing that reflects fees, cleaning, management and taxes the host must collect, with platform collection split recorded.

Twelfth, a cap tracker where a cap applies, updated monthly, with pattern labels for hosted versus unhosted stays. Thirteenth, a stay log started before the first booking, with dates, channel, booking reference and payout reference per stay. Fourteenth, an advert audit: every channel checked for correct permit details, old adverts removed or updated. Those listing and guest lines turn a permit into a compliant operation.

Fifteenth, a monthly routine: stay log reconciled, platform statements filed, TOT reconciled, cap tracker updated, display rechecked after edits. Sixteenth, an annual review: permit validity, pattern drift, cap totals, tax totals and city-portal recheck, noted with dates. Seventeenth, a renewal calendar: permit renewal, tax year end, cap year reset and seasonal rechecks, each with a reminder date set when the checklist is completed.

Eighteenth, an incident file routine: any city notice, platform message or neighbour complaint filed with the fix and dates. Nineteenth, a manager handover note where applicable: who holds the permit, who updates listings, who keeps logs, who answers city queries, per property. Twentieth, a final review line: the whole checklist re-read quarterly, with lines that no longer apply marked as such with a reason and date.

Remember the contrasts that cause most errors: Los Angeles 120 versus San Francisco unhosted 90, home sharing versus certification versus tier licences, platform collection versus host collection for TOT, and city permission versus building permission. A host who keeps those contrasts in mind, per property, will avoid applying one city's numbers to another city's listing, which is the single most common California error in this cluster.

Keep this checklist with the property file and verify each line on the relevant city portal, planning.lacity.gov for Los Angeles, sf.gov for San Francisco, and the official city portal for other cities, before acting. This guide is general information only, last verified on 26 October 2026.