by Robin Urevich, Capital & Main
This article was produced in partnership with Capital & Main, which was a member of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in 2022-23. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.
As Los Angeles prepares to host tens of thousands of visitors for the 2028 Summer Olympics, city officials are moving to stop property owners from illegally listing their homes as vacation rentals and devouring the city’s already strained housing supply.
The City Council’s housing and homelessness committee is considering adding inspectors, imposing stiffer penalties and requiring websites like Airbnb and Booking.com to use an electronic system already in place in New York City that would automatically reject bookings at properties that aren’t approved for short-term rental.
A July investigation by Capital & Main and ProPublica found more than 60 rent-controlled buildings with units advertised on booking sites despite LA’s Home Sharing Ordinance, which prohibits such stays in rent-controlled apartments. In some cases, entire apartment buildings were listed as boutique hotels on reservation sites.
Rent-controlled units make up nearly 75% of the city’s rental market; the designation caps annual rent increases at about 4% and is intended to preserve affordable housing for city residents.
The number of buildings with illegal listings is likely far higher than the news organizations found because most booking platforms mask the........