“Let this send a message loud and clear to those looking to illegally profit off our city’s housing crisis: Don’t try it,” [SF City Attorney] Herrera said. Let's hope Los Angeles City Attorney does the same.
“L.L.C.s today hide what should be public information. Should tenants have a right to know who they’re renting from?” she said. “Should cities have a right to know who owns the property? The answer is a resounding yes.” For renters, or tenants mired in rent-to-own contracts, these entities mean they often don’t know whom they’re dealing with — or who’s evicting them.
From Mike Bonin's Neighborhoods First Newsletter: "Update on Short Term Rental Process""
The long process to adopt sensible regulations for short-term rentals like those offered by Airbnb will see a major milestone this week, as the Council considers draft regulations at Wednesday’s meeting.
Wednesday’s vote comes after a long process, which started in 2015, and which has recently picked up momentum. On April 10, the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Comm...ittee requested that the Planning Department and the City Attorney prepare an ordinance establishing regulations for home-sharing in Los Angeles. The PLUM Committee’s action included some direction, such as specifying the number of nights that a host may engage in home-sharing (120 nights per year), as well as establish a process that would allow a host under certain circumstances to host additional nights beyond the 120-night maximum - if they apply for and obtain an additional approval from the City. The short-term rental ordinance would create a system that allows “good home-sharing” (people offering an extra room in their home or their entire home when they are out of town) that Mike supports, while specifically outlawing “bad home-sharing” (kicking long-term tenants out of affordable apartments so landlords can make more money offering apartments as short-term rentals).
The PLUM Committee’s recommendation was approved by the Housing Committee last week and will be sent to the full City Council for a vote this Wednesday, May 2."
More Airbnb stealth business practices....Airbnb is expanding in Florida with its first branded apartment complex, but some of its full-time residents are pushing back. "Expanding to branded apartment buildings is critical for Airbnb to win over luxury-craving customers, which would help justify its valuation."
