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Published July 15, 2026
You can serve a 3 day notice on your tenant under CCP 1161. The Airbnb guest has no independent right to stay once the lease is terminated.
If your tenant is subletting on Airbnb without your written consent, that almost always breaches the standard no sublet clause in a California lease. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1161, an unauthorized sublet or assignment lets you serve a 3 day notice to quit on the tenant of record. If the tenant does not cure or vacate, you move to an unlawful detainer. The short term guest occupying the unit is not a tenant of yours and has no independent right to remain once your lease with the actual tenant ends.
We manage doors across El Segundo, Hawthorne, Torrance, and the beach cities, and we see this pattern most near LAX, SoFi Stadium event weekends, and the beach cities during summer. A tenant signs a normal 12 month lease, then quietly lists the unit or a room on Airbnb or Vrbo for a markup. Most owners find out from a neighbor complaint, a package addressed to a stranger, or a review left on the listing itself with the actual address visible.
Every Schofield lease and nearly every standard California residential lease contains a covenant against subletting or assigning without the owner's written consent. That clause is your fastest lever. You do not need to prove the tenant is running an illegal short term rental business under a city ordinance. You only need to show the tenant sublet in violation of the lease.
California law treats unauthorized subletting as a lease violation that can terminate the tenancy. Under CCP 1161, once you serve a written 3 day notice to quit (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and judicial holidays) on the tenant and on any subtenant in actual occupation, the clock starts. Some violations under this statute allow a cure period; unauthorized assignment or subletting contrary to the lease is generally treated as terminating the tenancy outright, with the notice giving 3 days to vacate rather than to cure. Because the exact treatment can turn on your lease language and the facts, have an attorney or your process server confirm which subsection applies before you file.
This is the part owners get wrong most often. The short term guest booked through Airbnb has a contract with your tenant, not with you. They have no lease with you and no tenancy rights against you. If your tenant's lease is terminated for the unauthorized sublet, the guest's right to occupy ends with it. You still have to follow the unlawful detainer process against whoever is in possession, including anyone occupying the unit at the time of judgment, but you are not negotiating a second lease with a stranger who found the unit online.
Separate from your lease remedy, most South Bay cities regulate or restrict short term rentals directly. Manhattan Beach bans short term rentals under 30 days citywide outside the Coastal Zone, though the 2022 Court of Appeal ruling in Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach found that ban cannot reach properties inside the Coastal Zone without Coastal Commission approval. Hermosa Beach's blanket coastal zone ban was struck down in Koerner v. City of Hermosa Beach, and the city chose not to appeal in 2026, so short term rentals are permitted there under city rules. Rules differ block by block and city by city, and they change. Before you cite a specific city ordinance in a demand letter, confirm the current text with that city's planning department, because relying on an outdated ban can undercut your own notice.
Screenshot the listing, the address match, the calendar showing availability, and any guest reviews naming your property. Keep the dated screenshots. If the case goes to an unlawful detainer trial, this is your evidence that a sublet actually occurred, not just a suspicion.
An unauthorized Airbnb sublet is a lease violation you can act on immediately with a 3 day notice under CCP 1161, without waiting on city enforcement. The guest has no standing once the tenant's right to possession ends. Document the listing before you serve, and get a professional to confirm which notice period and subsection fits your facts, because the city layer on top of your lease remedy varies a lot across the South Bay right now.
If you would rather not track a tenant's side hustle yourself, that is what we do.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with a licensed professional before you act.
Last verified: July 2026.
Topics: playbook, sublet, airbnb, eviction, lease violation
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Schofield Properties is a family run property management company at 323 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245. We have managed the South Bay since 1972 and personally oversee about 186 doors today. Book a call to talk about your property.
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