LA Officials Struggle to Enforce Short-Term Rental Rules

In an article for ProPublica, Robin Urevich and Haru Coryne reveal that many of Los Angeles’ short-term rental units could be rent-controlled apartments rented out in violation of a 2018 law.

“In some cases, entire apartment buildings with more than 30 units are listed as boutique hotels on sites like Hotels.com and Booking.com,” according to a ProPublica and Capital & Main investigation. “By analyzing city databases and combing through online listings, the news organizations found 63 rent-controlled buildings where a tourist could book a room this spring. The number is likely far higher because many vacation rental websites like Airbnb don’t list exact addresses,” the article adds.

Meanwhile, the city’s enforcement system is “riddled with inefficiencies and shortcomings,” making it difficult to preserve affordable housing in a city with high levels of tourism. While the planning department uses an automated system to detect listings in potential violation of the law, the department admits it doesn’t have the capacity to follow up on most cases.

According to the article, “The City Council is expected to vote on recommendations to tighten the home-sharing ordinance later this year. The ideas include allowing individuals to sue violators, creating a home-sharing enforcement team made up of staff from different city departments and offering residents rewards for reporting neighbors who violate the ordinance.”