Oh, check this out… to the OP. Look at the banner ad that just appeared as I was scrolling! Right up,your alley.
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The city of Los Angeles is currently considering a proposal that would limit Airbnb hosts to having short term renters 180 days per year.
Los Angeles needs over 500,000 new residences.
Even if every Airbnb listing in Los Angeles became a long term rental it would be a drop in the bucket.
https://los-angeles.airbnbcitizen.com/airbnb-fraction-la-housing-stock/
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In Santa Monica you can only rent a shared space, not a whole house. In other words, the host is required to be on site during the entire rental period.
West Hollywood has outright banned Airbnb.
The city of Los Angeles is considering an ordinance that would limit short term rental of a property to 180 days per year.
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Airbnb is considered commercial business which requires a license and commercial insurance coverage.
Leasing or renting a place is considered residential use and intended for renters to leave in.
You run a business! Therefore you have to rent or lease a commercial business property, and not property for residential use!
You were lucky until now, time to move on.
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I wish people wouldn’t make assumptions without knowing local laws. There’s no blanket answer to any of these questions; it all depends on where you live.
Where I am (Ontario, Canada) there are few laws governing short-term rentals, so it is quite a grey area but generally not treated like a full-fledged commercial enterprise. There are a few insurance providers who offer add-ons to residental policies, and least one that offers a commercial policy although it’s more geared towards condo-hotel units. The government doesn’t require business registration and doesn’t tax it as business income. Mortgage lenders basically plug their ears and pretend they don’t hear you if you say you’re doing Airbnb, but if you’re renting a property long-term they definitely want to know about it. Renters doing it without their landlord’s permission will typically get hit with a ‘cease and desist’ letter rather than an eviction notice, but again that’s all based on local tenant protection laws and will vary depending on where you are.
If I were OP I would try to negotiate with the landlord, but if it’s gotten to the point where they’ve issued an eviction notice then you’re probably out of luck. However it would be best to consult a local lawyer.
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In Los Angeles, doing anything afoul of your lease is likely to get you evicted. Many areas have rent stabilization or rent control. This means that the landlord is limited in how much the rent can be raised on an existing tenant, but not on a new tenant.
Yes! This is what I was trying to get at with my commercial lease analogy. As a landlord I would want a cut of the Airbnb money, if I was willing to allow the tenant to sublet.
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I’m a Los Angeles mom ‘n pop apartment owner who is also an Airbnb superhost in a guest suite attached to my own home. I only rent my apartments via year leases, and I don’t I allow my tenants to do Airbnb. In fact the AAGLA lease that I use for my rentals not only has a clause prohibiting subleasing but also earlier this year was revised to include a clause prohibiting listing on short term platforms such as Airbnb as well. AAGLA (the Apartment Association, our trade group) has come out with a strongly worded statement opposing short term rentals in rental housing. It’s likely that the new regulations that the City Council is considering will also prohibit short term rentals in rent controlled housing which encompasses the vast majority of LA apartments. If I were you I wouldn’t waste my time or money on an attorney. I would pay the remainder of the lease while packing my bags and vacating. Once an eviction is filed it will go on your record and you will have a hell of a time renting another place, not just in LA, but anywhere. You indicate you have more than one property that you don’t own that you are listing. (multiple one and two bedroom units) Don’t expect any help from tenants’ rights attorneys as you are not actually a tenant, but a small time entrepreneur posing as a tenant. And yes, there have been plenty of cases in LA where the owner was able to successfully evict for illegal subletting. Finally you say your apartments are in a building managed by a large property management firm. If so, the company will have a highly experienced attorney on staff or on retainer that will make mincemeat of you as they likely handle eviction cases all the time and know all the judges, etc. As an apartment owner, I can firmly say that if anyone should profit from renting my apartments short term, it should be me., but I’m not stupid enough to do it, not in the current “housing shortage” climate in LA. There is something like a 1.5 million rental units in the city of LA. Most of us owners are in the business of providing long term housing to renters and that’s what we do best. Don’t think you can reap the reward without taking the risk.
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Super impressed with this response. Thanks for,answering and giving the long term landlord’s view.
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I am no longer a Host, and one of the reasons was that some tenants in our city were renting homes, condos and partements, and than listing it on Airbnb.
It created a fertile ground for the city to put major restrictions on Airbnb rentals. We may even have a total ban. Reason is that it has created shortage of affordable
rentals.
I just found this interesting article:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/video/homeowners-faced-airbnb-nightmare-renters-134100377.html
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It is possible to save this deal, but it will require some humility on your part.
Speaking objectively, your landlord does not want to lose a good long term tenant. And you don’t want to move. And we all know that Airbnb is the way of the world.
If you have had no complaints from neighbours, you may have a case to go cap in hand and ask for a new lease that includes frequent visitors. They may well ask for a rent increase along with the renegotiation, but it will most certainly be cheaper and less stressful than a team of lawyers.
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This may be another version of the same story posted above, but in a text format. Check out the craziness of the tenant changing the locks to electronic ones for guests and locking out the owner! Jeeze, how brazen can you get!!!
SF Host Here!
Couple things I don’t quite understand. I believe even in LA you have to register with the office of short-term housing and get a business license for the State of CA. During this mandatory application process your landlord would have already been notified.
If you are getting an eviction notice, it’s more likely a quit or move out.
Either way if you are not allowed to sublet or you do not have a legal permit you’ll get penalized for both.
Airbnb will remove your listing and / or charge you $484 per day if you keep it up. (I think that’s SF).
In order to REGISTER with your city/ county you’ll have to cancel all existing reservations, remove your listing or keep it as long as you only rent long-term. Until they are done with their “due diligence” on the property itself. It look me about 3 weeks to get approved.
Paralegal. Yep. What he said. And if an attorney will tee your case run!! They just want the billable hours. Hugs up. Cash was made. Get a storage unit. Time to find another money maker.
Landlord isn’t going to care. It’s an insurance liability issue. No wise. Move out move on
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haha sorry it’s just information…must have been typing to fast.
That is incorrect. In Los Angeles you have to get a business license from the City of Los Angeles Office of Finance. You also must file a monthly Transient Occupancy Tax.
"I believe even in LA you have to register with the office of short-term housing and get a business license for the State of CA. During this mandatory application process your landlord would have already been notified."
No registration yet in LA, but it is coming soon. There will be a second PLUM Committee hearing on September 26 (tentatively) and at some point the City Council will vote on regulations. It is unlikely that the city notified the owner or management company. No, more likely the owner or management company found out via complaints from other tenants and found the listing on the Air website.
Ellen, No, we don’t have to file monthly TOT in LA. Air does it for us. Air has been paying his TOT per agreement with the City of LA since a year ago August, so he not in violation there. There is also no need to get a business license from the state. Some hosts have city of LA business licenses, but not all. Once the City Council regulates short term rentals, a city business license will probably be required, but nothing’s set yet. We’re thinking sometime this fall…???
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