San Diego’s enforcement of tenant protections may soon rely on renters themselves to spot and report violations. On October 28, 2026, city officials introduced amendments to the Short-Term Residential Occupancy ordinance. These changes would let the city deny or revoke licenses for property owners found violating the Tenant Protection Ordinance. The proposal skips a pre-license investigation into an applicant’s eviction history. Instead, enforcement would start only after a tenant, the City Attorney’s Office, or another city process confirms a violation. City officials described the measure as a licensing consequence, not a proactive screening system. This leaves the first step to tenants and enforcement agencies to identify and prove unlawful conduct.
The proposed system would have tenants recognize when their rights are violated and file complaints with the City Attorney’s Office. Under this process, the City Attorney’s Office would review a complaint, decide if the Tenant Protection Ordinance was broken, and work with licensing staff if a violation is found. Relying on tenant-initiated complaints has drawn criticism from advocates. They argue many violations may go unreported, especially when tenants move out before formal eviction proceedings or get informal notices to vacate. Gil Vera, director of the Housing Justice Collaborative at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, pointed out that tenants facing displacement often lack resources to investigate possible violations. Most displaced renters focus on finding new housing rather than pursuing enforcement.
Loopholes and enforcement challenges
An investigation by inewsource earlier this year revealed a loophole in the city’s short-term rental law. Property owners have managed to get short-term rental licenses even after illegal evictions, especially through no-fault evictions like owner move-ins or major remodels. California’s Tenant Protection Act requires just cause to end a tenancy after a tenant has lived in a unit for at least 12 months. No-fault grounds include owner or qualifying family member move-ins, taking the property off the rental market, following a government order, or substantial remodeling. Statutory notice and relocation requirements apply. For owner-move-in evictions, the qualifying occupant must generally move in within the period required by law and use the unit as a primary residence. Substantial-remodel evictions require work that cannot reasonably be done while the tenant stays. If an owner claims one of these reasons and then converts the unit to short-term lodging, that can be evidence of a statutory or local tenant-protection violation. Despite these rules, some investors have removed long-term tenants and listed the units on platforms like Airbnb.
San Diego’s short-term rental program uses four license tiers. Tier 1 covers rentals of 20 days or fewer per year, and Tier 2 covers home sharing with the host present or whole-home use for up to 90 days annually while the host is away; both are uncapped. Tier 3 covers whole-home rentals outside Mission Beach and is capped at 1% of the city’s housing units. Tier 4 covers Mission Beach and is closed to new licenses except through a lottery waitlist. As of October 9, 2026, there were 802 Tier 3 licenses left. Tier 3 and Tier 4 properties must meet a two-night minimum stay and a minimum operating threshold of 90 rental days each year. The two-year license costs $1,129 plus a $41 application fee. Tier 3 and Tier 4 operators must keep a local contact who responds to complaints within one hour. Licenses do not transfer automatically to a new owner or a different property. A host may hold one license and operate one unit. Applications require an active transient-occupancy-tax certificate and a paid Rental Unit Business Tax account. These requirements show the city already uses licensing conditions to regulate short-term rentals. The proposed tenant-protection amendment would add unlawful-eviction findings as a separate reason for denial or revocation.
City response and legislative status
Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who represents Ocean Beach, Point Loma and Mission Beach, has promoted short-term vacation rental regulation as a major achievement. The ordinance, effective since 2023, has been described as a leading example of vacation rental regulation. Campbell’s office proposed the latest amendments but has not addressed questions about the loophole.
Venus Molina, a senior official in Campbell’s office, presented amendments aimed at clarifying eligibility, verifying legal use, and improving accountability. Molina said city staff will not proactively search for violations but will act if a property owner is found guilty of breaking tenant protection rules. Chief Deputy City Attorney Corrine Neuffer explained that tenants who suspect their homes are being converted to vacation rentals should contact the city’s Housing Protection and Code Compliance Unit. If a violation is confirmed, the City Attorney’s Office would coordinate with licensing staff to revoke or deny a short-term rental license. Neuffer also said the city’s tenant protection law requires landlords to notify the Housing Commission when tenants are evicted, once an eviction notice registry portal is set up.
San Diego’s proposed enforcement mechanism would connect two previously separate systems: tenant-protection enforcement and short-term-rental licensing. The city’s approach does not require staff to independently review whether a landlord used an unlawful no-fault eviction before approving a license. The practical effect of the amendment depends on tenants reporting suspected violations quickly enough for the city to investigate before or after a short-term-rental license is issued. The Southern California Rental Housing Association, in an October 22, 2026 legislative update, said it would recommend amending San Diego’s Tenant Protection Ordinance to align its just-cause protections with state law. This highlights ongoing debate over the scope and timing of tenant protections.
The timeline for when the proposed amendments will reach the full City Council is unclear. Councilmember Campbell’s term ends in early December. For more on the background and ongoing developments, see inewsource’s original coverage and the Southern California Rental Housing Association’s legislative update.
