Los Angeles City passed new rules for short term rentals back in December of 2018, which went into effect July 1, 2019. These greatly impact your ability to rent out your properties via Airbnb, VRBO and other similar sites. In some cases, they even completely eliminate your ability to use your property as you see fit. Should you wish to sell a property you can no longer use as a short term rental, please contact us and we will be glad to help you out.
The new rules for short term rentals:
- Property owners must register their units with the city & pay a fee, which they can do online here. Registration requires the submission of your ID and proof of residence.
- The basic type of registration will allow hosts to rent out their properties for a maximum of 120 days per year and costs $89.
- Under some situations, some hosts can get permission to rent out their properties for longer as an "extended-stay registration." This has a $5,660 fee associated with it.
- Hosts have four months to complete the registration process. Hosts can begin advertising their rental spaces online immediately after completing the application.
- Only "primary residences" are now eligible to become short-term rentals, which are defined as a home in which the host lives for at least 6 months of the year.
- Hosts also cannot use additional units on properties, such as duplexes or ADUs, as short-term rentals.
- Rent-stabilized units are prohibited from being used as short term rentals.
- One good change is that rental spaces must be residential in nature. No more renting out semi-converted garages or storage facilities.
- Those who get caught violating the new rules will be served an “initial notice of violation” that orders them to stop and possibly a citation with associated fines and penalties.
Of course, you can still do a long term rental with these properties, just be aware that Los Angeles City is not a landlord friendly city and has a host of laws that infringe upon your rights as a property owner.
Huggins Homes provides a full spectrum of full-service real estate services. Click here for more information about how we can help you.
