LA’s new Airbnb rules go into effect today

New home-sharing regulations are in place for the city of Los Angeles today, changing the way hosts from Airbnb and other rental platforms can book vacation stays and short-term rentals.

Starting today, hosts must register and pay an $89 fee to the city. Hosts can only register one property with the city at a time and the property must be their primary residence (where they live at least six months out of the year). Rentals are limited to a 120-day annual cap, and rent-stabilized units are no longer allowed to be used for home-sharing—even if the host owns the unit.

The city’s planning department has put together a detailed FAQ on the home-sharing ordinance with more information on how to register and pay fees before enforcement of the regulations begin on November 1, 2019.

Here’s what hosts need to know:

• Hosts must register with the city planning department and pay an $89 fee. According to the city planning department, enforcement will begin November 1, 2019.
• Only the host’s primary residence can be rented out, defined as the place where a host lives for at least six months per year.
• Renters can’t home-share without prior written approval of their landlord.
• Stabilized (aka “rent-controlled”) units are not eligible for home-sharing, even if you own your own RSO unit.
• Hosts may not register for or operate more than one home-sharing rental unit at a time in the city.
• Hosts cannot home-share for more than 120 days in a calendar year, unless they have registered with the city for “extended home-sharing.”
• The “extended home-sharing” option allows hosts to rent out residences for an unlimited number of days. To get approval from the city, hosts have to pay an $850 fee. To qualify, they need to be registered with the city for at least six months or hosted for at least 60 days. Hosts who have received a citation in the past three years will be disqualified, unless they pay a $5,660 fee to have their case reviewed.
• Non-residential buildings and temporary structures are not eligible for home-sharing; that includes vehicles parked on the property as well as storage sheds, trailers, yurts, and tents.
• Hosts are responsible for providing a Code of Conduct to all guests with rules about amplified sound and “evening outdoor congregations.”
• There’s an email to sign up for to receive more updates.

The new rules, which were passed in December 2018 after three years of deliberation by the City Council, are the city’s first attempt to regulate LA’s short-term rentals, which some advocates claim are taking affordable units off the market and worsening the housing crisis.

About 23,000 housing units are available for rent in the city of LA on short-term rental platforms, with about 10,000 units primarily used for short-term rentals, according to Host Compliance LLC, a company that monitors short-term rental platforms.

The new rules have already been contested by the California Coastal Commission, which regulates hotels and other rental properties in designated coastal areas, including Venice. A lawyer who represents property owners told the Los Angeles Times that limiting rentals may violate the Coastal Act and plans to take the city to court.

In March, the city’s tourism and convention board announced the city had welcomed a record-breaking number of tourists last year, with 50 million people visiting Los Angeles in 2018.

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