Airbnbs and other short-term rentals in unincorporated areas would be limited to hosts who rent out their primary residence, under a proposal that received preliminary approval from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Officials say the rentals have spread throughout unincorporated areas of the county, sometimes leaving a trail of loud parties and streets littered with trash.
The proposed law, five years in the making, would prevent hosts from listing second homes, guest houses, accessory dwelling units or investment properties in unincorporated Los Angeles County.
Supervisors, who unanimously passed the law Tuesday, must vote on it again, likely early next month, before it becomes law.
Under the proposed law, hosts in unincorporated areas — home to nearly 1 million residents — would have to register with the county and pay an annual fee of $914. The property can be rented for no more than 30 consecutive days at a time. So-called “corporate hosts”, who rent multiple properties, will have to pull their listings.
“It takes them right out of the game,” said Randy Renick, president of Better Neighbors LA, which pushes for regulations on short-term rentals.
Better Neighbors LA says the ordinance will put much-needed housing back on the market. The group estimated there are more than 2,600 homes available for short-term rental in unincorporated county areas.
The law has been supported by several renter advocacy groups and public officials, who have argued that short-term rentals displace long-term residents and replace them with unruly tourists. Some residents told the media that their street had been turned into an “actual hotel.”
“Across the county, residents are suddenly having to deal with commercial establishments in the middle of their neighborhoods, resulting in loud parties, parking difficulties, large amounts of trash, loud noise, and guests who have no interest in protecting the community,” a coalition of City officials wrote in a joint letter.
Some hosts – as well as the rental platforms they use – have opposed the proposed law, arguing that it is an “attack” on property owners, discourages tourists from visiting and cuts off a much-needed income stream.
At a county board meeting last month, Airbnb host Ellen Snortland said she felt she was unfairly lumped in with corporate landlords. She said she's in her 70s and uses Airbnb to avoid foreclosure.
“Do you think people like us, Airbnb hosts, do this to get rich?” She said. “We do it to survive.”
Vrbo, an online vacation rental platform, said it believes the province's regulations will hurt tourists and families who want to host them.
The proposal “severely limits the options available to traveling families visiting the area and the economic opportunity for residents who own, manage and service these accommodations,” a spokesperson for Expedia Group, which oversees Vrbo, wrote in a statement.
The boycott comes more than five years after the city of Los Angeles passed short-term rental restrictions, which prevented Angelenos from renting second homes on platforms like Airbnb. The county's version would bring unincorporated areas roughly in line with the city.
Residents sometimes report illegal vacation rentals in their neighborhoods, only to discover that the homes are already in unincorporated Los Angeles County and therefore perfectly legal, said Maria Patiño Gutierrez, policy director at the tenants' rights group Strategic Actions for a Fair Economy.
“The housing crisis exists in all of Los Angeles County,” she said.
Some supporters of the law hope there is one important difference from the city of Los Angeles: enforcement by the teeth.
Researchers have found that hosts in Los Angeles regularly violate city rules, with little consequence. A 2022 study found that nearly half of the city's short-term rentals were illegal.
Better Neighbors LA's Renick said he believes the county will do a better job of enforcement, though he said details on how to do that are “slim.”
“We are confident, given what the various supervisors have told us, that the district will take enforcement seriously,” he said.
They are still imposing penalties on hosts who don't comply, said Nicole Alcaraz, chief operating officer of the county treasurer and tax collector, who spearheaded the law. She added that there will be more details next month.
“We know there will be an enforcement arm. We have some general ideas about how that will work,” she said. “But the amount [of the penalty] “Maybe it will change.”
The ordinance will go into effect six months after the final vote and will include all property owners in unincorporated Los Angeles County except those along the coast. Residents in unincorporated coastal areas — including Marina del Rey, Catalina Island and the Santa Monica Mountains — will need to wait for the California Coastal Commission to consider the ordinance.
