The Brief

As Los Angeles gears up for a surge of tourists for this year’s FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics, vacation rental giant Airbnb is urging the city of Los Angeles to legalize thousands of new short-term rentals.

The company promises that the expansion will add more than $100 million in tax revenue to city coffers amid a severe budget crisis. But opponents say more short-term rentals will further strain an already limited housing supply.

In a report issued this month, Better Neighbors LA, a coalition of housing activists and labor groups that monitor short-term rentals, countered the Airbnb proposal with its own revenue generating idea: Enforce the city’s existing home sharing law, cite violators and bring in tens of millions of dollars in fines that the group says the city has simply failed to collect.

Beefed-up enforcement is a “simple fix for the city” that would “raise enormous amounts of money,” said Randy Renick, Better Neighbors LA executive director. “It’s also going to return thousands of affordable housing units to the market for long-term renters,” he said. (Disclosure: Renick’s law firm, Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai, is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.)

Better Neighbors’ coalition includes the hotel workers union UNITE HERE Local 11, along with local organizations like Venice Community Housing and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. (Disclosure: UNITE HERE is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.)

Last year, as Airbnb rolled out its “Save Our Services” campaign for short-term rental expansion, it poured $19 million into lobbying and political contributions at the state level, according to the California Secretary of State’s online database.

Also in 2025, the company spent $360,000 on lobbying at Los Angeles City Hall and made hefty donations to charity at the request of L.A. city councilmembers, Los Angeles Ethics Commission records show. The company donated $570,000 to the nonprofit Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund at the request of L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park and $25,000 to the North Valley Family YMCA at the request of Councilmember John Lee.

California law places no limits on such donations, known as behested payments, but requires them to be disclosed to help the public identify attempts to influence public officials.

Airbnb wants the city to revive an idea that city councilmembers, including former councilmember Herb Wesson, the father of current Airbnb spokesperson Justin Wesson, first proposed eight years ago. The proposal would have allowed property owners to list second homes on platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo or booking.com. The current proposal would add up to about 31,000 units to the city’s short-term rental market. Under L.A.’s Home-Sharing Ordinance, which took effect in 2019, short-term rental hosts are allowed to list only their primary residences on vacation booking platforms. Neither Vrbo nor booking.com responded to Capital & Main’s request for comment about the proposal.

The Airbnb-backed coalition, Save Our Services, says on its website that the additional vacation rentals could generate more than $100 million for the city in “bed taxes,” a 14% levy on overnight stays paid by hotel and short-term rental guests, as well as $100 million in sales tax revenue from tourist spending.

Labor unions like the Teamsters Joint Council 42, the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council and the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees, along with the Central City Association of Los Angeles and community groups like the Brotherhood Crusade and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, back the effort.

Airbnb spokesperson Justin Wesson said in a statement, “By allowing a limited, regulated number of vacation rentals in the City of Los Angeles we can help stabilize funding for essential services, support neighborhood-based tourism, and prepare the city for upcoming global events in a way that benefits residents, visitors, and local businesses alike.”

Airbnb supports stronger enforcement of the city’s Home-Sharing Ordinance, Wesson wrote in a January 2026 letter to the L.A. City Council. The letter also urges the city to require all vacation rental platforms to share data with the city and remove illegal listings. Airbnb is the only company that currently does so voluntarily.

The Better Neighbors LA report dismisses Airbnb’s claim that expanding short-term rentals would generate more than $100 million in new hotel taxes as “fanciful” because the proposal wouldn’t necessarily bring additional tourists to the city. In 2020, as the City Council first considered an expansion of the short-term rental market, Los Angeles Director of City Planning Vince Bertoni was also skeptical that expanding vacation rentals would draw visitors to Los Angeles.

Still, the World Cup and the Olympics will bring an influx of visitors to L.A., and groups like Better Neighbors LA fear that the city will lose much needed housing to tourist rentals, especially if city officials permit additional vacation rentals.

This concern is heightened by the fact that the city has long struggled to enforce its existing Home-Sharing Ordinance.

Fully half of the Los Angeles vacation rentals listed on booking sites are illegal, according to data included in the Better Neighbors LA report. But only a tiny fraction of violators are cited; the city has collected a total of about $667,000 in fines under the 2019 home sharing law, Better Neighbors LA reports. The group estimates the city could immediately rake in $95 million in two months if it stepped up enforcement.

City Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Hugo Soto-Martinez, whose Hollywood-Silver Lake district has among the highest concentration of the city’s short-term rentals, support Better Neighbors’ plan to increase enforcement of the city’s current law.

“This report makes clear that the path forward is enforcing the home-sharing laws already on the books,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement. “If we fully implement the rules we passed, we can protect tenants and generate additional revenue for the city without sacrificing housing.”

L.A.’s Home-Sharing Ordinance generally allows individuals to list only their primary residences on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo for up to four months, although the city also makes exceptions, allowing year-round “extended home sharing” in many cases. Home sharing is not permitted in dwellings covered by the city’s rent control law or in affordable housing units, including those built with public funds.

But property owners have easily evaded the existing home sharing law, even amid a severe housing and homelessness crisis. In 2024, a Capital & Main and ProPublica investigation found that tourists could rent apartments in dozens of rent controlled buildings in apparent violation of the law. Owners of some of these buildings openly listed fabricated or nonexistent city registration numbers and were never cited.

For years, residents complained about loud parties in short-term rentals, parking problems and the loss of permanent housing in their neighborhoods. Last March, the City Council finally voted to pursue reforms, including requiring short-term rental platforms to use a computer system that would automatically block illegal transactions and giving individuals the right to sue suspected short-term rental law violators. But the reform effort hasn’t moved forward.

Last year as the City Council considered stricter oversight of short-term rentals, Los Angeles Housing Department officials said they lacked the staffing and resources to effectively enforce the ordinance. This month, Sharon Sandow, a spokesperson for the housing department, which is one of several city agencies overseeing the Home-Sharing Ordinance, said in an email that all of the departments would have to assess their “resources and capacity” for a coordinated enforcement effort.

Meanwhile, the Airbnb proposal has caught the attention of at least one city councilmember, Heather Hutt, who represents Koreatown and Mid-City. In January, Hutt requested that the chief legislative analyst and other city department staff brief the City Council’s budget and finance and planning and land use committees on the status of the ordinance.

Support for the Airbnb plan would represent a distinct shift for most members of the City Council: Last year, councilmembers put themselves squarely on the side of limiting short-term rentals in the city, voting 12-0 to strengthen oversight of the program. Three members — John Lee, Monica Rodriguez and Bob Blumenfield — were absent.

Copyright 2026 Capital & Main

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.