Los Angeles Requires Airbnb Hosts to Get Police Permits

Airbnb, which has seen its lucrative NYC rental market nearly wiped out by tough new short-term rental registration requirements, now faces a new permitting process in Los Angeles.

The City Council has unanimously approved a new law requiring short-term rental hosts on platforms including Airbnb to obtain a police permit, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Council President Paul Krekorian, who supports the permits, said the permitting process will help the city get rid of party houses and similar arrangements that are magnets for crime.

The City Council, as well as neighborhood groups, are empowered under the new law to challenge the issuance of the police permits, which may effectively give neighborhoods a veto over short-term rentals.

Police permits, which often are required for services including car valet operators and bowling alleys, can require criminal background checks and hefty fees.

While the LAPD has recommended fees of $260 for short-term rental permits, Krekorian told the Times that he wants the permitting process to be routine and “nearly automatic,” without the need to fingerprint anyone. According to the Los Angeles Planning Department, there currently are 6,725 short-term rental units listed in the city.

The Hotel Association of Los Angeles has expressed concern that its 600 members now will be required to have police permits. The short-term rental permit requirement was part of a package of new hotel regulations that were agreed to by the city and union leaders related to the use of hotel rooms to house the homeless population.

At a council committee hearing, several Airbnb hosts called the requirement of a police permit excessive, adding they don’t want to be fingerprinted as part of a criminal background check.

“I just ask that you not buckle us in with doing extra hoops to jump through and extra police checks and extra fees,” Kevin Stevens, a homeowner in North Hollywood, told council members, the Times reported.

In August, an NY State Supreme Court judge tossed out Airbnb’s lawsuit seeking an injunction to block New York City’s registration rules for short-term rentals. Enforcement of the new rules began in September.

Local Law 18, passed in January 2022, requires Airbnb hosts to register with a database overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, submit diagrams of their homes and a list of who resides there, and prove they are abiding by zoning and safety regulations.

City officials said the law is aimed at landlords the city claims have been illegally collecting Airbnb booking fees for their properties. Officials estimated that nearly 10,000 short-term rentals in NYC were listed illegally.

The law imposes penalties of up to $5,000. Airbnb is required to certify that all of the information provided by its hosts to NYC is accurate or be subject to fines of up to $1,500 per violation.

The city said the new rules are needed to shut down widespread illegal rental activity that has been using fake Host profiles on Airbnb and other sharing platforms to market “substandard” short-term housing.

The registration requirements were enacted in the wake of a lawsuit filed by OSE to shut down what it called an illegal short-term rental operation being run by a licensed real estate broker in Turtle Bay.