Post by High Priestess on Jul 14, 2016 12:53:24 GMT
Santa Monica "convicted" an Airbnb host...charged him with crimes! Several misdemeanors. Gawd! Convicting people of crimes for renting out property...sounds so Orwellian. That said, this host was renting out several whole apartments, so it is more than home-sharing in this instance...it is true vacation rental he was doing.
The host they picked for their first conviction is a famous one, Scott Shatford, founder of the company AirDNA, and the man who also wrote a book about Airbnb renting.
See his website here: www.scottshatford.com
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-monica-airbnb-conviction-20160713-snap-story.html
Santa Monica, which last year passed some of the nation’s most restrictive regulations on short-term rentals, has now convicted its first Airbnb host under the new law, prosecutors said.
AIrbnb host Scott Shatford, who listed five properties on Airbnb, was charged with eight misdemeanor counts of operating a business without a license and failing to comply with citations after he refused to stop renting out his properties, Deputy City Atty. Yibin Shen said Wednesday.
Shatford pleaded no contest on July 5 in a plea deal with the city, agreeing to pay $3,500 in fines and to stop renting properties within the city. He was also placed on two years’ probation.
Shatford, a 36-year-old Santa Monica resident, wrote a book on home-sharing and runs AirDNA, a database that helps hosts price their units so they can “Airbnb like a pro.”
On Tuesday, Shatford said he had been renting vacation properties in Santa Monica for about four years and has been vocal about his doubts about whether the city could actually enforce its new law.
“I was probably targeted by Santa Monica because I was out there, talking about my rentals,” Shatford said. “The city came after me, to make me their little poster child and be able to promote me as their first victory. … It’s pretty silly.”
The host they picked for their first conviction is a famous one, Scott Shatford, founder of the company AirDNA, and the man who also wrote a book about Airbnb renting.
See his website here: www.scottshatford.com
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-monica-airbnb-conviction-20160713-snap-story.html
Santa Monica, which last year passed some of the nation’s most restrictive regulations on short-term rentals, has now convicted its first Airbnb host under the new law, prosecutors said.
AIrbnb host Scott Shatford, who listed five properties on Airbnb, was charged with eight misdemeanor counts of operating a business without a license and failing to comply with citations after he refused to stop renting out his properties, Deputy City Atty. Yibin Shen said Wednesday.
Shatford pleaded no contest on July 5 in a plea deal with the city, agreeing to pay $3,500 in fines and to stop renting properties within the city. He was also placed on two years’ probation.
Shatford, a 36-year-old Santa Monica resident, wrote a book on home-sharing and runs AirDNA, a database that helps hosts price their units so they can “Airbnb like a pro.”
On Tuesday, Shatford said he had been renting vacation properties in Santa Monica for about four years and has been vocal about his doubts about whether the city could actually enforce its new law.
“I was probably targeted by Santa Monica because I was out there, talking about my rentals,” Shatford said. “The city came after me, to make me their little poster child and be able to promote me as their first victory. … It’s pretty silly.”