Post by High Priestess on Dec 14, 2018 16:25:04 GMT
After a long process, Los ANgeles has finally set up short term rental regulations.
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-airbnb-rental-ordinance-20181211-story.html
Included are the following aspects:
Under the new rules, Angelenos can host such rentals only in their “primary residence,” defined as the place where they live at least half of the year. Hosts must register with the city, pay lodging taxes, keep records for city inspection, and make sure they have working smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and information on emergency exits, among other requirements.
And some homes are off-limits for such rentals: Angelenos cannot host them in hundreds of thousands of apartments covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which limits rent hikes for tenants, or units that fall under affordable housing covenants.
The rules also impose new requirements on hosting platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway. They cannot process any booking from a host who has not registered with the city, or who has exceeded the annual limit on how many days they can rent out their home. If the platforms do so, they can be hit with fines of $1,000 a day.
And the online platforms must regularly hand over host information to the city, a step that L.A. officials say will help with enforcement.
Apparently LA is doing as New York tried to do and some cities like San Francisco have succeeded in doing, which is to require Airbnb to give private information about hosts to the government. This continues to present a legal issue which Airbnb is already fighting against,
I hope this issue will eventually be resolved in favor of host's privacy if challenged in court.
Some hosts feel the city is overreaching:
At the Tuesday hearing, Airbnb hosts complained that the new law was saddled with steep fees and would bar some responsible hosts from earning income from their homes. One Silver Lake rental host, David Darwish, said the city was “acting like Gestapo” and “going after small mom-and-pop businesses.”
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-airbnb-rental-ordinance-20181211-story.html
Included are the following aspects:
Under the new rules, Angelenos can host such rentals only in their “primary residence,” defined as the place where they live at least half of the year. Hosts must register with the city, pay lodging taxes, keep records for city inspection, and make sure they have working smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and information on emergency exits, among other requirements.
And some homes are off-limits for such rentals: Angelenos cannot host them in hundreds of thousands of apartments covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which limits rent hikes for tenants, or units that fall under affordable housing covenants.
The rules also impose new requirements on hosting platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway. They cannot process any booking from a host who has not registered with the city, or who has exceeded the annual limit on how many days they can rent out their home. If the platforms do so, they can be hit with fines of $1,000 a day.
And the online platforms must regularly hand over host information to the city, a step that L.A. officials say will help with enforcement.
Apparently LA is doing as New York tried to do and some cities like San Francisco have succeeded in doing, which is to require Airbnb to give private information about hosts to the government. This continues to present a legal issue which Airbnb is already fighting against,
That could be a sticking point for some companies. Airbnb, for instance, has cautioned the city that it will not provide names and addresses unless it gets a subpoena, according to the planning department. It has tangled with other cities over their requirements for hosting platforms.
Airbnb has, however, floated the idea of creating a system that could forward information to the city when hosts register with its website. But it said it would do so only if L.A. allowed for “vacation rentals” — renting out something other than a primary residence for short stays, such as a second home or investment property.
Airbnb has, however, floated the idea of creating a system that could forward information to the city when hosts register with its website. But it said it would do so only if L.A. allowed for “vacation rentals” — renting out something other than a primary residence for short stays, such as a second home or investment property.
I hope this issue will eventually be resolved in favor of host's privacy if challenged in court.
Some hosts feel the city is overreaching:
At the Tuesday hearing, Airbnb hosts complained that the new law was saddled with steep fees and would bar some responsible hosts from earning income from their homes. One Silver Lake rental host, David Darwish, said the city was “acting like Gestapo” and “going after small mom-and-pop businesses.”