How to Legally Register Guests in the State of California
Whether you manage a rural house, campsite or tourist home advertised on an OTA platform (such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Booking), the state of California requires you to register and maintain records of your guests. However, the exact details and duration of this requirement varies depending on the city.
These tourist registration requirements can be challenging to keep up with, especially for hosts who are renting homes in more than one municipality.
Here, we tell you what your responsibility is as a home sharing host in Los Angeles and San Diego.
The Los Angeles Municipal Code states that the following information should be maintained for a minimum of 90 days:
- The name and address of each guest and the total number of guests
- The make, type and license number of the guest’s vehicle if the vehicle will be parked on the premises that are under the control of the Operator or hotel management
- The day, month, year and time of arrival of each guest
- The number or other identifying symbol of location of the room rented or assigned each guest
- The date that each guest is scheduled to depart
- The rate charged and amount collected for rental of the room assigned to each guest
- The method of payment for the room
- The full name of the person checking in the guest
The San Diego municipal code mandates hosts to maintain a register of guest information for a minimum of three years showing the following:
- Year, month, day and hour of guest arrival
- The number of the suite or room assigned
- The time of departure or, if the exact time of departure is not known, the date and time that the fact of the departure of each guest is ascertained.
In California, it is the responsibility of the renter to maintain this information in the event of an inspection.
Currently, HomeAway, Airbnb and other home sharing services do not have the capability to maintain guest information. Attempting to store this information on your own is cumbersome, and you can put your guests’ information at risk of being compromised if not stored properly.
Is there an application that completes the guest registration process and maintains these records?
Chekin takes care of your legal obligations surrounding guest registration and record keeping.
Chekin securely stores all your guests’ data and makes it readily available in the case of an inspection or an emergency.
This platform is especially useful for renters of multiple properties because maintaining all this information can become complicated, and Chekin has the capability to display guest information based on which property they rented.
With Chekin, you can scan your guests ID/ passport to automatically store the information, or you can manually input the guest data into the application. Afterwards, simply ask your guest to virtually sign.
Don’t forget to add the process of guest registration to your checklist as an Airbnb host!
