Three years after the city of Los Angeles enacted new regulations for vacation rentals on websites such as Airbnb, the city’s enforcement of the law has declined — even as researchers say the number of illegal listings is growing.
Better Neighbors Los Angeles published a report Friday that found non-compliant listings increased an estimated 25% from Nov. 2021 to Oct. 2022 compared with the same period a year earlier.
While the number of illegal listings grew, the city issued 54% fewer warning letters to non-compliant hosts and levied 85% fewer fines, according to the report.
The city has “actually identified more non-compliant listings … but the rate of enforcement went down,” said Allison Kirste, a policy analyst and advocate with Better Neighbors L.A. “Despite this program being in place for several years now, enforcement doesn’t seem to be increasing and non-compliance does.”
Advocates say illegal vacation rentals sap affordable housing
Better Neighbors L.A. — a coalition including tenant advocates, housing nonprofits and a local hotel workers union — says its goal is to bolster the city’s short-term rental law. The group cites affordable housing losses, neighborhood nuisances caused by scofflaw hosts and harms to hotel industry workers as reasons to crack down on illegal vacation rentals.
The new report drew on data collected by a city contractor tasked with monitoring short-term rental platforms. Airbnb has entered into a data-sharing agreement with the city, but other companies have not. The city attorney’s office sued Vrbo last year over routine flouting of the city’s home-sharing ordinance.
Officials with the…
Read the full article here
