In Pacific Beach, the Vacation Rental License Doesn't Come With the Condo

When a Pacific Beach condo sells, its short-term rental license stays with the seller. San Diego's answer to "Can I change the host on my STRO license?" is one word: "No." The departing host files a cancellation form, the buyer applies for a license of their own, and the City keeps the fees.

That surprises a lot of people who are looking at a unit marketed as an active vacation rental. In Pacific Beach, though, the bigger story is what happens after the buyer applies. The buyer can still get a whole-home license today, just a few blocks north of a neighborhood where nobody can. A buyer here pays for a rental's booking history, its furnishings and its guest reviews, and should expect to supply the permit themselves.

The license belongs to the host

The City's Short-Term Residential Occupancy program ties each license to a person and a dwelling. One host may hold one license at a time and may operate one unit at a time. Licenses can't be transferred to a new owner or moved to a new address. A license lasts two years. Since March 1, 2025, a whole-home license has cost a $41 application fee plus a $1,129 license fee, and none of it is refundable.

A buyer who plans to keep a property running as a vacation rental starts from zero on paperwork. Before applying, a host needs an active Transient Occupancy Tax certificate and a paid Rental Unit Business Tax account. A host who isn't the owner also needs a Business Tax Certificate and a document showing their right to occupy the unit. A July 31, 2026 City rule adds that the host must be at least 18.

North of the line, the window is still open

What the buyer is really asking is whether they can get their own license. The answer depends on which community planning area the property sits in. Mission Beach's planning board bylaws describe the area as bounded on the north by Pacific Beach, with its northernmost stretch ending at the south side of Pacific Beach Drive.

As of the City's October 23, 2026 update, the two sides of that line looked like this:

Mission Beach sold out early. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that nearly 1,100 Mission Beach licenses went out by lottery in late 2022 because demand exceeded the cap. The first waitlist of 209 applicants produced 165 licenses before it ran dry, and the City reopened the list in 2025. The same report noted that the rest of the city never hit that wall.

So the same non-transferability rule hits a buyer differently on each side of Pacific Beach Drive. In Mission Beach, a buyer can't apply for a whole-home license on the spot, so the seller's license leaving at closing is a real loss. In Pacific Beach, a buyer who meets the requirements can still apply while Tier 3 has openings.

The open slots are shrinking

The 807 figure is a snapshot, and it has been moving one way. The Union-Tribune reported 1,028 Tier 3 licenses available as of June 2025. By October 23, 2026, the City listed 807, about 220 fewer in roughly 16 months. The cap itself is fixed at 1% of housing units outside Mission Beach, based on SANDAG housing estimates last updated in March 2024.

Pacific Beach accounts for a large share of the licenses already issued. In the City's active-license dataset, updated November 1, 2026, the Pacific Beach planning area holds 984 of the 4,848 active Tier 3 whole-home licenses citywide, about one in five. It also has 219 Tier 2 home-sharing licenses and 16 Tier 1 part-time licenses.

A Pacific Beach buyer competes for the same citywide pool of openings as someone in North Park or Serra Mesa, in a neighborhood that already holds a fifth of everything issued.

A renewal date to know

The same dataset shows how Pacific Beach's existing licenses are timed. Of the 984 Tier 3 licenses there, 557 expire on the same day: April 30, 2027. About ten more expire in November and December 2026.

Those licenses will mostly be renewed, since the City emails renewal notices 60 days before expiration and renewal is a standard process with the same $41 and $1,129 fees. They aren't a supply of licenses waiting to come free. For a buyer, the date matters in another way. A seller whose license runs out in April 2027 may be weighing whether to renew or sell. A buyer looking at a property this winter can check the expiration date in the public dataset and see where that seller stands.

The rules a new license comes with

A Tier 3 license carries operating terms that start on the first day. Under the current ordinance, Tier 3 and Tier 4 hosts must rent the home short-term for at least 90 days a year and file quarterly reports showing it. The City's FAQ says "the ordinance does not include any exceptions to this requirement" and that missing it could lead to revocation. Short-term rental of 21 to 89 days a year isn't allowed at all. An owner who lives in the home at least 275 days a year could hold a Tier 2 license instead, which allows up to 70 days of whole-home rental. Whole-home rentals in Tiers 3 and 4 also require a two-night minimum stay.

Owners also face scrutiny from neighbors. inewsource reported in September on a citizen watchdog group, Nice Neighbors, checking Pacific Beach rentals for compliance in August. The outlet reported that the group and its allies had filed more than 2,000 reports with the City over issues from signage to illegal garage conversions.

The rules are being rewritten right now

The 90-day rule above may not last. On October 21, 2026, the City Council's Community and Neighborhood Services Committee took up amendments to the ordinance from Councilmember Jennifer Campbell's office, presented by her chief of staff, Venus Molina. A meeting summary records a 3–0 vote to advance them. According to the committee presentation, the package would:

• Write non-transferability into the code more plainly, with an exception for property transfers between spouses or domestic partners
• Require a County Assessor residential building record showing the unit is a legal dwelling
• Bar a license for a unit found in violation of the City's Tenant Protection Ordinance
• Block renewal while a revocation is pending or within 12 months of one
• Remove quarterly reporting for Tier 3 and Tier 4 licenses
• Extend the ordinance's sunset in the Coastal Overlay Zone from January 2030 to January 2038

The draft ordinance text rewrites the utilization section around a ban on operating as a public nuisance, and the 90-day language sits in the section being revised. The sunset change applies within the Coastal Overlay Zone and takes effect there only after the California Coastal Commission certifies it. inewsource reported that the tenant-protection piece would rely on tenant complaints, not City screening. It also reported that the date for a full Council hearing is unclear and that Campbell terms out in early December. Until the Council acts, the current requirements stay in force.

A separate plan to tax empty second homes and short-term rentals $8,000 a year failed 3–2 in the Council's Rules Committee on January 28, 2026, as KPBS reported, so it never reached voters.

FAQ

Can a seller's guest bookings carry over to the buyer? The City's published guidance covers the license, not existing reservations. The license itself doesn't carry over, and a new host has to apply.

Where can I check whether a specific property has an active license? The City's open data portal publishes active licenses with address, tier, community planning area and expiration date.

Does the pending amendment change who can get a license in Pacific Beach? The committee presentation keeps the existing caps of 1% outside Mission Beach and 30% inside it, along with the one-license-per-host rule.

This post is general information about San Diego's short-term rental rules, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own situation with an attorney, a tax professional and the City's STRO office before you act on it.

If you own a licensed rental in Pacific Beach and are deciding whether to renew before April or sell, or you're comparing condos on both sides of Pacific Beach Drive, Ben Crosby can walk you through how licensing affects the numbers on a specific property. Start with a free home valuation, or find more neighborhood context on the Pacific Beach guide.