LA City Council Approves Contentious Airbnb Regulations

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday unanimously approved new guidelines for controversial short-term housing rental companies such as Airbnb.

The guidelines, drafted by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, limit homeowners and landlords who rent out their rooms or full homes through Airbnb or other companies to 120 days per year. A host who wants to go above the 120-day cap would have to go through a petition process which would involve allowing neighbors to weigh in.

Even though it was approved, the ordinance must still go to the L.A. city attorney's office and the L.A. City Planning Commission for further analysis before returning the city council for a final vote which would make it law.

In 2016, the city reached a three-year deal with Airbnb which requires it to pay hotel taxes on behalf of its hosts.

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee said it worked to craft a policy that balanced the wishes of rental hosts who say home-sharing is a vital source of income, with criticism from those who say it is contributing to the city's housing shortage by removing rental homes from the market and also creating a proliferation of party houses in some neighborhoods.

In February, the city council approved an ordinance which creates escalating fines and penalties for so-called "party houses." The measure widens the type of behavior that could result in a property owner or manager being fined or facing a criminal charge, create escalating fines up to $8,000 for repeat violators and require a public posting for 30 days on homes found in violation.

Wednesday's ordinance also bans home-sharing for affordable housing or rent-controlled units.

The city's Office of Finance estimates that the city will collect $46 million in Transient Occupancy Taxes from Airbnb this fiscal year, which ends in July. The 120-day cap would reduce that.

The Department of City Planning said in a report that there were about 456,000 nights booked on Airbnb alone in 2016, and an estimated 550,000 nights booked by all home-sharing companies in 2017.

Other cities have enacted short-term rental limitations, with Santa Monica limiting them to 60 days and San Francisco limiting them to 90.

Meanwhile, The American Hotel & Lodging Association issued a statement in support of the ordinance's passage. It read, in part:

"We applaud the Los Angeles City Council for taking a critical step that provides common-sense protections, holds short-term rental platforms accountable in an effort to reduce their negative impacts on neighborhoods across Los Angeles. This ordinance will protect affordable housing for Los Angeles residents including hotel employees, as well as preserving the fabric of neighborhoods."