The Brief

Los Angeles officials tasked with enforcing the city’s years-old vacation rental rules said this week that illegal activity on booking websites remains widespread. Getting a handle on the problem before the arrival of major tourism events in L.A. like the 2028 Olympics will require a significant boost in staffing, they said.

L.A. Housing Department officials told the City Council’s housing committee on Wednesday that the department needs 18 additional inspectors and administrators to target hosts renting an estimated 7,500 homes to tourists illegally. Tenant advocates argue costs are rising for L.A. renters in part because hosts have taken these homes off the market.

The City Attorney’s Office said more officers are needed to oversee hearings for hosts who say they were cited improperly. Planning Department officials told the committee there are about twice as many properties listed on vacation rental websites as there are valid registrations.

Housing Committee chair Nithya Raman acknowledged that the city’s Home Sharing Ordinance — in place since 2019 — has failed to stop illegal bookings, leading to frequent complaints from neighbors about noise and unruly behavior in “party houses.” She also said hosts who follow the rules often face frustrating delays when seeking permits from the city.

“We are really trying to make this a better system for everyone,” Raman said. “We want to be able to remove unpermitted listings. We want to be able to identify bad actors… Our goal is also to make it easier for compliant hosts to operate their units.”

How we got here

Residents and city officials in L.A. have long expressed concern about activity on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. Airbnb officials say they have created new compliance tools and have opened lines of communication with the city to make sure hosts are properly registered. But city officials say illegal bookings on other platforms remain common.

L.A.’s rules went into effect in late 2019. They require hosts to register with the city, display their registration number in listings, and only rent out their primary residence — in other words, the home where they actually live. Hosts seeking to book guests for more than 120 nights per year need to get a special extended home-sharing permit.

However, with permitting and citation responsibilities scattered among multiple city departments, enforcement has been spotty.

A 2022 McGill University study estimated that widespread illegal activity on short-term rental platforms had removed about 2,500 homes from L.A.’s long-term rental market, worsening the region’s housing shortage and increasing rents by about $800 per year for the city’s tenants.

Big tourist draws coming to LA

Noah Suarez-Sikes is an organizer with Better Neighbors L.A., a group advocating for stronger limits on vacation rentals. He said without better enforcement, more housing could be lost as L.A. prepares to host major events like the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028.

“People are going to be displaced in favor of tourist accommodations,” Suarez-Sikes said. “And after the Olympics, those aren't going to go back to being long-term rentals.”

The City Attorney’s Office says it has found examples of vacation rentals illegally operating out of rent-controlled apartments. The city filed an ongoing lawsuit earlier this year against a self-described “Airbnb business coach” who detailed his strategy on social media.

Hosts say LA makes compliance too difficult

While city officials debate how to crackdown on operators flouting the law, many smaller hosts say they believe the city’s rules have been impossible to navigate.

Operators who gave public comment during Wednesday's committee meeting said they rely on vacation rental income to fund their retirement, to help them cover the cost of caring for sick family members, or to weather prolonged downturns in the city’s film and TV industry.

Frank Krentzman said he rents out a single-family home he owns in Venice while living in a smaller unit on the same property. He said the permit that allowed the property to be rented throughout the year was in his deceased husband’s name, and he’s been struggling to get the city to issue an extended home-sharing permit in his own name.

“They make the rules impossible to follow,” Krentzman said, adding that it’s been impossible to reach people in the city’s Planning Department by phone or in person to figure out paperwork issues. “I comply. The city treats me like I'm a criminal at every turn.”

Would a ‘bounty system’ deter scofflaws?

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield expressed reservations about hiring new staff to enforce the rules at a time when the city’s budget is strained.

“I’m not confident we are going to have the resources to properly enforce this,” Blumenfield said. “It’s too big. There are too many moving parts.”

Instead, he pushed for setting up a “bounty system” that would allow members of the public to sue illegal vacation rental operators and collect penalties through a private right of action.

“We would empower the public to go after illegal rentals,” Blumenfield said. “That would save us a lot of resources, too.”

Should L.A. copy New York?

Other council members leaned toward pursuing enforcement strategies already in place in New York City. There, platforms like Airbnb and VRBO are required to check city data to verify that hosts are in compliance with local laws before a booking can go through.

L.A. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said that approach would avoid saddling overburdened city departments with even more work.

“We have technical solutions that we can deploy,” she said. “We just need to invest in it.”

What happens next? 

No firm decisions were made in Wednesday’s meeting. Moving forward, city staff will report back to the council about various proposals for changing the Home Sharing Ordinance, such as increasing fines and requiring property inspections before permits are issued.

One contentious proposal would involve eliminating the city’s extended home sharing permits, limiting hosts to no more than 120 booked nights per year. Planning officials say about 40% of the city’s approximately 4,000 registered hosts have extended home-sharing permits.

Business advocates have urged city leaders to oppose further limits on vacation rental platforms. The Central City Association and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association sent council members a letter this week saying vacation rentals generate billions of dollars in local economic activity.

“The short-term rental industry alone contributes millions in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) to the city’s budget each year — funds that are vital for supporting public services and community investments,” the letter states. “Restricting home-sharing would have a dramatic negative impact on this revenue stream, creating a budget shortfall at a time when our city can least afford it.”

How platforms are responding 

Airbnb officials told LAist the company has already entered into a platform agreement with the city to support enforcement.

“We continue to work closely with city staff to support their compliance efforts and support efforts to encourage more platforms to adopt similar tools that promote short-term rental compliance in Los Angeles,” Justin Wesson, Airbnb public policy senior manager, said in an emailed statement.

VRBO did not respond to LAist’s request for comment.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an $843 million homelessness spending plan that includes nearly $200 million in reductions to programs and services in the next budget year.

Among those programs is Pathway Home, which helps move people from encampments into temporary housing. The county reduced funding for that program by $92 million, which will shrink it from 20 project sites to seven, officials said.

Supervisors also approved $105 million in reductions to other programs, including large cuts to street outreach teams, homelessness prevention programs and other supportive services.

County officials said they had to reduce spending in order to cover the rising costs of operating shelter beds and the loss of tens of millions in temporary state and federal funding, including some COVID-19 relief dollars.

“With federal neglect and state cuts, we have to do more with less,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath told LAist. “And we will.”

The county’s new Department of Homeless Services and Housing has been warning about the looming shortfall since July. County officials solicited input on how to fill an initial $303 million gap.

Since then, the department adjusted the county’s homelessness spending plan, after finding some one-time state grants and cost-saving measures.

The budget year starts July 1.

Some funding restored

Last month, local homeless service providers urged county officials to restore all of the more than $200 million in proposed reductions to programs and services. Some supervisors raised concerns about specific cuts.

Since then, new revenue projections show the county stands to bring in $21 million more through Measure A than originally anticipated.

Measure A is a sales tax ordinance, approved by L.A. County voters in 2024, that funds homeless services and affordable housing initiatives. It is expected to generate about $1 billion annually, but exact revenues fluctuate with consumer spending.

The county’s slightly rosier revenue projections allowed the homeless department to roll back a fraction of the proposed reductions.

“It’s not a windfall and it doesn’t solve every challenge, but it does give us the ability to restore important programs that were on the chopping block,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said.

The board voted to use much of that $21 million to restore funding for two dozen full-time outreach workers and about 100 shelter beds that were previously on the chopping block.

The plan approved Tuesday also calls for $5 million in Measure A revenue to partially restore funding for interim housing in Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale. It restored more than $1 million to operate family solution centers — hubs to connect unhoused families with services — and about $500,000 for a program that helps military veterans access government benefits.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell said she wishes Pathway Home funding could be maintained. She said it’s been crucial for helping people living in RV encampments in her district, which spans from Koreatown to much of the South Bay.

"These restorations don't expand encampment resolution operations,” Mitchell said Tuesday. “The services with the greatest impact in the Second District remain reduced, and the current plan does not replace what was cut."

County homelessness officials told supervisors the 100 shelter beds they saved will be prioritized for people living in encampments and will help make up for cuts to Pathway Home.

"The reduction to Pathway Home is not a reduced commitment to encampment resolution,” L.A. County Department of Homeless Services and Housing director Sarah Mahin said Tuesday. “It’s a recognition that it was built on one-time funding and we need to expand strategies to include more cost-effective resolution solutions."

New oversight push

The supervisors also voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve a new motion focused on accountability in homeless service contracting. The motion by Horvath and Kathryn Barger directs the homelessness department to work with the county auditor-controller to create strict oversight procedures for contracts, including random site visits, performance monitoring and provisions for termination.

They said the goal is to prevent the mismanagement that has plagued the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and the fraud that has resulted in recent arrests. Last month, federal authorities arrested Alex Soofer, director of a nonprofit called Abundant Blessings, on suspicion of embezzling tens of millions in dollars meant to serve unhoused Angelenos. Soofer pleaded not guilty to the charges this week.

"Public dollars intended to address homelessness have gone unaccounted for under LAHSA," Horvath said. “That is unacceptable and it ends now with the county.”

Last year, the board voted to divert more than $300 million in county homelessness dollars away from LAHSA and administer the funds itself with a new homelessness department.

“As the department launches, every contract, every dollar, and every outcome must withstand scrutiny,” Horvath told LAist in a statement. “We don’t have resources to waste or time to lose in addressing the homelessness crisis.”

Barger described instances of fraud within the homeless services sector as “moral failures” that cannot be tolerated.

“They represent theft from the most vulnerable people in our community,” she said.

She also argued that ethical service providers “should not have their reputations destroyed by the criminal actions of a few bad actors.”

Barger told fellow supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting it’s their responsibility to monitor how county homelessness dollars are being spent — and to defund programs that aren’t generating results.

“Setting the budget is the easy part,” Barger said. “We have to see results. And if we don’t, we have to have a debate at this board: is that the best use of these resources?”

The department must report back to the board in 60 days with their full plan for monitoring contractors and preventing fraud and misuse of public funds.

Auditor-Controller Oscar Valdez told supervisors his office would submit a plan to county homelessness officials Tuesday.

A crew of four moon-bound astronauts will remain on the ground for at least a month after NASA delayed the launch of the Artemis II mission. During critical pre-launch testing Monday, mission managers uncovered a number of issues that prevented the completion of the test.

NASA is now planning a March launch date for the four astronauts — three from the U.S. and one from Canada — on a ten-day mission to circle the moon and return to Earth, traveling farther than any humans have ventured into deep space.

Issues leading to that delay began about an hour into Monday's test, known as the wet dress rehearsal. As the team began fueling the rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sensors picked up a hydrogen leak. Super-chilled hydrogen is used as the fuel for the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Hydrogen is an efficient propellant for rockets — but its molecules are so tiny and light they can escape even the tightest of seals. Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said they had troubleshooted the initial leak, but when they began to pressurize the tank, another leak surfaced.

"And so as we began that pressurization, we did see that the leak within the cavity came up pretty quick," said Blackwell-Thompson.

(L/R) NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, NASA Associate Administrator Lori Glaze, launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, and manager of NASA's Space Launch System Program, John Honeycutt, hold a news conference on the Artemis II mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Tuesday.

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Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo

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AFP via Getty Images

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Hydrogen leaks plagued testing of NASA's Artemis I mission in 2022. Blackwell-Thompson said lessons learned from that uncrewed flight were utilized for Artemis II, but there's more investigation is needed.

The wet dress rehearsal uncovered other issues — including a problem with the Orion capsule, which will carry the crew to the moon. While no one was on board Monday, teams practiced preparing the spacecraft for its passengers. A valve that pressurizes the vehicle required additional attention and took more time to close the hatch than anticipated.

Teams also uncovered issues with cameras due to cold weather and audio dropouts across communication channels. "As always, safety remains our top priority, for our astronauts, our workforce, our systems and the public," said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman in a post on X, and that NASA will only launch when the agency is ready.

Work now begins to fix the issues. NASA will require another wet dress rehearsal before giving the "GO" to put astronauts on board. "All in all, a very successful day for us on many fronts," said Blackwell-Thompson. "Then, on many others, we got some work we've got to go do."

The earliest launch window for another attempt is March 6. NASA has additional launch opportunities on March 7, 8, 9 and 11.

The crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen were released from quarantine and will remain in Houston, Texas. They'll re-enter quarantine about 14 days ahead of the next launch attempt and make the trip to the Kennedy Space Center six days before liftoff.

Artemis II is testing key systems of the Orion spacecraft, like its maneuverability and life support systems, ahead of the planned Artemis III mission that will take humans to the lunar surface. The Artemis II will mark the first time humans have returned to the moon since the final Apollo lunar mission in 1972.
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A trial got underway Tuesday in a case alleging that Huntington Beach illegally dilutes the power of Latino voters with its at-large election system.

Cities across Orange County and elsewhere in California have faced similar challenges over the past decade. Most have settled out of court by adopting by-district elections, where voters only vote on a city council representative from their area, rather than requiring candidates to run citywide. A notable exception is Santa Monica — the city has been fighting a challenge to its at-large election system in court for nearly 10 years.

Now, Huntington Beach is following suit.

The case was brought by the nonprofit group Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Victor Valladares, a Huntington Beach resident and Democratic Party activist. It’s being heard by Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig L. Griffin.

The argument against at-large city elections

The plaintiffs allege Latino voters can’t elect a candidate of their choice under the current system, in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. This alleged dilution of Latino voting power, they say, leads to poor representation and negative consequences for the city’s majority-Latino Oak View neighborhood.

“Their needs get ignored,” Kevin Shenkman, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said during his opening statement Tuesday. “It is a natural result of the at-large election system.”

Latinos make up about 20% of the population in Huntington Beach. Under a draft map of electoral districts drawn up by demographer David Ely, a witness for the plaintiffs, the district that includes the Oak View neighborhood would be 40% Latino. Plaintiffs argued this would give residents more power to elect a city councilmember who represents their interests.

The city’s defense of at-large elections

In their opening argument, lawyers representing Huntington Beach argued that Latinos in Huntington Beach are spread across the city and politically diverse.

The city’s lawyers also argued that recent elections of Latino city council members, including MMA star Tito Ortiz in 2020 and Gracey Van Der Mark in 2022, prove the city’s current at-large election system doesn’t impede Latino residents’ ability to participate in the local political process.

“The system works, it’s not broken, and the evidence will show that at trial,” said Anthony Taylor, one of the attorneys representing Huntington Beach.

The trial is expected to last into next week.

Go deeper

• Why were AI-equipped police cameras installed in this majority Latino Huntington Beach neighborhood?
• Huntington Beach's controversial voter ID law is illegal
• Voting by district gives Latino candidates a boost in Orange County
• District elections mean big governing changes for many California cities