Short Term Rentals Again Before City Council, As (Surprise!) AirbandB Found Cheating On LA Rules
Written by 991KBU on August 10, 2020
In Malibu … yet another version of an ordinance clamping down on short term rentals of Malibu homes goes before the Malibu city council tonight.
You almost need a Google map to follow this one.
There are two Malibu ordinances floating through city hall right now.
A permanent ordinance … which the city says would not be able to take effect until the Coastal Commission approves it.
That goes before the city council tonight.
And .. a short-term ordinance … that would restrict B and B’s until the Coastal Commission can clear the permanent ordinance … which might take more than a year.
The Planning Commission decided to recommend a short cut … for the permanent ordinance … two weeks ago.
Their legal theory is that Coastal does not have the legal authority or need to approve the permanent ordinance.
They note that the Coastal Commission’s Local Coastal Plan does not mention short term rentals … so if there is nothing for them to change.
Plus … the Coastal Commission does not get to comment on city ordinances … only on city land use matters.
They are recommending that the city drop plans to take the ordinance to coastal … and just implement a permanent ordinance on its own.
A side note … the coastal commission staff has sent a letter that says it basically has no objections to the city’s permanent or temporary ordinances.
The coastal commission bypass theory … plus the proposed permanent ordinance … goes to the city council tonight.
One way or the other … The city council appears to be heading towards banning overnight rentals where the host is not present on the premises.
That disappoints a significant number of Malibu families … who for years have rented out their houses while they take summer vacations.
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Meanwhile … the L A Times reports that a keystone to the big city’s new rules to clamp down on renting homes for short stays is not working.
And that may spell problem for the proposed Malibu short term rentals rules.
Waht’s wrong in L-A?
Landlords are not registering … and the online B and B listing companies are listing those properties as available online anyway.
The L A Times reports that more than a year after the L A rules went into effect, many rental hosts appear to be ignoring it.
Thousands of illegal rentals are still being advertised online, according to city officials and a Times analysis of listings on the popular platform Airbnb — and only a fraction have been penalized with fines.
Kiek in Malibu … the L A rule limits Angelenos to hosting short-term rentals in their “primary residence,” not in a second home or an investment property.
The Times analysis found that as of early June, nearly 5,000 Airbnb listings for short-term rentals in Los Angeles lacked city registration numbers.
The city, in turn, has estimated that on Airbnb, more than 6,000 listings are out of compliance.
About 42% of the active listings on all platforms in Los Angeles are apparently illegal.
