City Council Passes First Reading of Rental Inventory Ordinance

On September 5, 2023, the Monterey City Council voted 4-1 in favor of moving forward in establishing a rental inventory and requiring registration of all residential rental properties within the City of Monterey beginning January 1, 2024. The first reading was passed, with the following amendments:

• Landlords and tenants will split the cost of registration evenly with 50% fee pass-through to tenants.
• To the extent possible, the 50% of fees passed through to tenants will be itemized on their rental invoice/statement.
• ADUs, JADUs, and owner-occupied properties will be exempt from registration fees.
• There will be no criminal charges imposed for violations of this ordinance.

The next steps in the process call for a second reading of the draft ordinance with the added amendments on September 19, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. If the ordinance passes at that time with no additional changes requested by City Council, it will go into effect 30 days later. If further amendments are requested, the ordinance will return to City Council for an additional reading on the next available date.

Based on the timeline passed by City Council at this point, residents can expect to the registration window to open on January 1, 2024 with a closing date of March 1, 2024.

Please refer to the associated FAQ section for more information, or contact suggest@monterey.org if you have further questions.