Currently, home sharing is not technically permitted in Los Angeles, and that has landlords pushing for a home sharing ordinance that would change the law. Such an ordinance was drafted in 2018, but isn't close to passing any time soon. We sat down with Andrew Starrels, a partner with Holland & Knight LLP and a member of the firm's West Coast Land Use and Environment Group, to talk about home sharing activity in Los Angeles and to get an update on the potential for a city ordinance.

GlobeSt.com: Tell me about home-sharing activity in Los Angeles.

Andrew Starrels: This issue has received a lot of attention, partly because home-sharing companies like Airbnb have been aggressively lobbying the City for permission to operate, and there are wide variances of opinion on all sides. As of now, home sharing activity like that offered on Airbnb is not permitted in most areas of Los Angeles, and the home sharing companies very much want to be able to operate legally in all areas of the City. While the City wants the tax revenue generated by home sharing and also recognizes that some of its citizens need the income from home sharing to offset their housing expenses so they can stay in their homes, residents in many neighborhoods, especially those with high tourist activity, generally object to home sharing. They believe that it will diminish the quality of their neighborhoods with more tourists and temporary occupants, more disruptions, traffic, noise, etc., and worry that home sharing guests will not take care of properties as well as permanent residents would. Most of these issues apply to single-family neighborhoods. Home sharing in apartment buildings raises other issues. And, a good deal of the hospitality industry is concerned about home sharing activity that competes with hotel properties, where for example an entire building might be used by a building owner as a hotel alternative, marketed solely on Airbnb-type platforms.