$2.5 Billion in Economic Activity Set to Disappear

From the California Business Journal Newswire

Homeowners, property managers, and small business owners rallied at Los Angeles City Hall yesterday to call attention to a gaping oversight in LA’s quest to regulate short term rentals. After almost 12 months of delay, the City has failed to draft language for an ordinance to regulate traditional, whole-home vacation rentals. Enforcement of the primary-only ordinance this tomorrow, November 1, and an absence of language for a secondary-ordinance effectively bans traditional short-term vacation rentals.

“This city is effectively banning and shutting down second home vacation rentals on November 1^st. At the same time they are supposed to be drafting an ordinance that would legalize them. What are second homeowners supposed to do during this time? And more pressing for me and the people that I work with, what are the cleaners supposed to do during this interim,” says Heather Santora, owner of Heather’s Angels, a vacation rental management and cleaning service.

Primary short-term renters will now be the only group allowed to participate in short term rentals.  November 1 marks the first date of enforcement that will strip all vacation home rental owners of the ability to operate. This will have a ripple effect not only in terms of income for homeowners and property managers but the countless cleaning companies, landscaping services, and small businesses benefiting from tourist dollars that VRs provide. Tomorrow the billions of tax dollars and fees that traditional vacation rentals generate for the City will evaporate.

“I lost quite a bit of properties in the 2008 recession. I was able to save my home and that was about it. But in order to stay above water, I had to rent it out and live elsewhere. That has kept me above water, but this recession has damaged a lot of people, especially a lot of seniors like myself who really have a tough time finding a job.  The only way that I can really survive is if I have the option of renting my secondary home out as a vacation rental,” says Homeowner and LAVHRA member Roland Kosser.

LAVHRA stands with homeowners and businesses in urging City Council to develop the vacation home rental ordinance.  Time has run out and Los Angeles City Council needs to make the decision now on whether it will turn its back on the vacation home rental community it promised to help.

In Los Angeles, whole-home vacation rentals accounted for $2.5 billion in economic activity in the last year alone. This is money that the city can collect as tax dollars and can be reinvested in the city’s infrastructure, education and social programs. We are dedicated to being the voice for Los Angeles vacation rentals, advocating for reasonable regulation and responsible management, and will continue to push for a secondary vacation home rental ordinance from City Council.

The Los Angeles Vacation Home Rental Alliance (LAVHRA) is a coalition of vacation rental stakeholders in Los Angeles, including property owners and managers, housekeepers, gardeners, and businesses both large and small that benefit from vacation rental activities.  https://www.lavhra.org/