How To Turn Your Mammoth Lakes Home Into a Nightly Rental (Legally)

How To Turn Your Mammoth Lakes Condo / Apartment Into a Nightly Rental

Considering turning your home into an Airbnb / VRBO? As a reminder, only apartments and condos are eligible for nightly rentals in the Mammoth Lakes area. To become a nightly rental in Mammoth Lakes (legally) you must accomplish a few things first.

1. Fill your info out and obtain your rental license with the city
2. Have a certified home inspector review your property for compliance with the local Airbnb / VRBO requirements
3. Pay the fees and make sure to set up your online bill-pay

Below are the steps we just discussed, but in more detail to better serve you. If you need assistance with setting up and managing your nightly rental, feel free to reach out to us and we can assist.

The two applications (Business Tax Certificate application and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Certificate application) that need to be submitted to start renting out your property are attached for your convenience.  You can also read more about the registration process on the Town’s website at http://www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov/.

To get started, We’ve listed out the general steps of the application process:

1. 1. Please fill out the Business Tax Certificate (BTC) application.  The Business Tax Certificate essentially acts as your license to do business in Mammoth Lakes.  Business Tax for transient rental businesses are based on a per unit basis.  For example, if you have one transient rental property, your business tax will be $25.  In addition to your business tax, there is a $65 application fee, a $4.00 disability access fee known as the CASp fee, and a $5.00 planning review fee.  In December, you will receive a renewal notice for 2019.
   2. Please fill out the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Certificate application.  There is a one-time fee of $23 per TOT Certificate.

1. You can either mail in the applications with a check or you can drop them off at the Town offices at 437 Old Mammoth Road Suite R (above Giovanni’s).
2. Please schedule a home inspection with an approved inspector, a list of approved inspectors is attached for your convenience.  The inspectors who are approved by the Town will have the inspection checklist that they will need to sign off on.  You will get a copy of the signed inspection checklist for your records and the inspector will submit a signed inspection checklist directly to the Town of Mammoth Lakes. Here is a copy of the home inspection form you’ll need to apply before the home inspector signs you off.
3. Once we receive the applications, payments, and signed inspection checklist, it typically takes 5-10 business days to go through the approval process.  Once you are approved, you will receive your Business Tax and TOT Certificates in the mail.
4. You will also receive your PIN Number so that you can register for an online payment account on www.xpressbillpay.com.  You will be able to file your monthly returns and make payments completely online.

Some other key pieces of information to be aware of:

1. Returns must be postmarked or filed online by the 20^th of the following month unless the 20^th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a federal holiday to avoid penalties and interest from accruing.  For example, the November 2018 Return is due on December 20, 2018.
2. You will be responsible for collecting and remitting 13% Transient Occupancy Tax and 1% Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) assessment on your total monthly gross rents.
3. Prior to starting this process, you should find out if your property is zoned for transient (30 days or less) rentals by visiting the TOT Property Search Tool at https://gis.mono.ca.gov/apps/pv/.

Please feel free to contact the Finance Department should you require any additional information or if you have any further questions.

Revenue Specialist

Town of Mammoth Lakes

p: 760-965-3665

f:  760-934-7493

e:  bmanning@townofmammothlakes.ca.gov

w: http://www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov/