The Brief

Airbnb hosts and other short term rental owners in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County could soon be barred from renting out properties they don’t live in under proposed rules advanced by the Board of Supervisors.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to craft a new ordinance regulating short-term rentals. The decision comes after years of debate and research by the board. The county regulations were first proposed back in 2019.

Proponents of regulating activity on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo say the rules will put homes back on the market for L.A. residents increasingly struggling to find affordable housing.

“Short-term rentals bring with them a wealth of negative consequences,” said Randy Renick, executive director of the advocacy group Better Neighbors L.A., in an interview with LAist. “They push up rents. They make homes unaffordable. They bring crime into neighborhoods. They unsettle the peace and quiet of residential streets. And it's encouraging that the county is finally teeing this up for a vote.”

During Tuesday’s lengthy and at times contentious public hearing, many hosts said the proposed rules are too strict.

Some homeowners said they would be prevented from earning income by renting out backyard granny flats, even while they’re living in the main house. Others said they pride themselves on providing affordable accommodations to travelers.

Topanga resident Nonie Shore said visitors rent her property to enjoy the beauty of the Santa Monica mountains. This area, she said, “is a tourist destination for many who cannot afford a decent hotel room… Homeowners in Topanga should be able to rent out their structures safely.”

LAist reached out to Airbnb and Vrbo for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

How the proposed regulations would work

The rules — which still need a subsequent vote before taking effect — would apply to unincorporated areas, not to L.A. County’s 88 incorporated cities. About 1 million county residents live in areas that would be subject to the new proposals, such as East Los Angeles, Altadena and Ladera Heights.

The proposed regulations would require hosts to register with the county every year. Hosts would only be allowed to list their primary residence. Renting out investment properties or second homes would be prohibited.

Under the original draft of the rules, hosts would also be prevented from renting out accessory dwelling units on their property. On Tuesday, supervisors voted to advance an amendment that would allow hosts to rent out a primary residence to guests while they stay in the secondary unit.

The proposed rules would allow hosts to rent their homes for up to 90 nights per year “unhosted,” meaning while they are not physically present in the home. Beyond that limit, they would be required to be on site during their guests’ stays.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the supervisors debated whether a proposed annual registration fee of $914 was too expensive for lower-income homeowners hoping to earn extra income renting out their homes. They said they plan to further discuss options in subsequent votes for mitigating the cost to certain homeowners.

Residents weigh in 

During public comment, many speakers said short-term rentals have taken much-need homes off the long-term rental market. Others said their neighborhoods have been disrupted by raucous, and at times violent party homes. Over the weekend, Los Angeles police said two people were shot at a Hollywood Hills home that had been rented out for a Super Bowl party.

Other public commenters urged the Board of Supervisors to ease or provide exceptions to the proposed regulations, saying they rely on short-term rental income.

“Many elderly and low-income people rent a small space in their homes in order to pay the increasing costs of living, insurance, taxes, etc.,” Susanna Dadd submitted in a written public comment.

The view from City Terrace

In an interview with LAist, Luz Loza said short-term rentals have drastically changed her neighborhood. Loza grew up in the hilly unincorporated area of City Terrace, a largely working class Latino neighborhood famous for its views of the downtown L.A. skyline. She now owns the home where she was raised.

“We knew everybody around here. Everybody was a homeowner,” Loza said. “Now, we don't know practically anybody that lives around here.”

Loza said her home is now surrounded by short-term rentals. A number of those properties are owned by the same person, Loza said, who is rarely on site to address problems with disruptive guests.

“We have so many people that come in and out of this place, we feel our safety is at risk,” Loza said. “My grandson experiences seeing them use drugs, bathing nude… They just don't take into consideration that we have to get up and work early.”

Tourists are flocking to City Terrace to enjoy the neighborhood’s scenic vistas, Loza said, but young adults hoping to maintain their roots in the neighborhood can’t find affordable homes.

“A lot of people like this place. We have such a beautiful view,” Loza said. City Terrace residents “want to invest and live in this area, but there's nothing available for them.”

Lessons from the city of L.A.

The county’s proposed rules would not be the first of their kind in the L.A. area. The city of Los Angeles began enforcing its own home-sharing ordinance in 2019. Under those rules, hosts can be fined $500 for each day they post a listing that breaks the law, or up to $2,000 per day if they rent units for more than 120 days per year without the city’s permission.

Proponents of the city’s rules say corporate hosts returned thousands of rent-controlled apartments to L.A.’s long-term housing stock after the regulations took effect. But they also admit enforcement has been spotty, and illegal short-term rental activity remains common.

A 2022 study from a McGill University urban planning professor found that nearly half of listings on Airbnb and Vrbo at the time appeared to violate the city’s home sharing ordinance. Despite the widespread illegal rentals, fines levied by the city have been limited. Since November 2019, the city has issued 1,083 citations and levied about $920,000 in fines, according to a spokesperson from the city’s Planning Department.

If ultimately passed, the county’s rules would take effect 180 days after a final vote by the Board of Supervisors.

Southern California summers aren’t exactly known for mugginess.

But uncharacteristic humidity has been clinging to the region for almost a month, and it looks like there’s little relief coming our way.

It’s not enough moisture to create much, if any, rain, but it is abnormal for this time of year

The dew point in Southern California is normally around 60 degrees at this time of year, forecasters say. But in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, the dew point hit almost 70 degrees.

Scientists say humidity generally becomes uncomfortable in the summer when the dew point is higher than 65.

“We do get these prolonged periods of heat, but what is unusual is the humidity,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis.

So, what’s causing this mugginess?

A confluence of atmospheric forces, some hundreds or even thousands of miles away, is collecting and trapping moisture in Southern California.

“It's basically the combination of the warm ocean temperatures, as well as we've just been in the right pattern for some tropical moisture" to be sent our way, Lewis said.

Storms in the Pacific

Storms are to blame, at least in part, for the uncharacteristic humidity in the region this summer.

Two in particular have contributed to moisture levels in Southern California as they traveled across the Pacific Ocean in recent weeks.

Tropical Storm Fausto formed off of Central America earlier this month before moving off into the open ocean and moving toward Hawaii. It briefly was elevated to a Category 2 hurricane over the weekend before weakening again into a tropical storm.

Fausto is expected to continue weakening as it passes to the north of the Hawaiian Islands over the next few days.

The other, stronger storm, Hurricane Genevieve, also formed off the coast of Central America and has been moving relatively parallel to the Mexican coast, several hundred miles offshore.

Genevieve was elevated to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday.

The storms aren’t solely responsible for sending moisture hundreds of miles across the ocean.

Other weather patterns closer to home, including the system of high pressure air currently settled over the Western U.S. and the North American monsoon, siphon the tropical moisture from the storms into our region.

Thankfully, forecasters say, Hurricane Genevieve is not expected to create as much moisture as Fausto and other recent tropical storms.

Warming oceans

Forecasters also say warming ocean temperatures are adding to the humidity.

When the ocean is warmer than usual, the wind blowing inland off the water is also warmer. The warm seawater also evaporates faster, releasing more moisture into the air above it. That moisture is then carried inland by the wind.

Ocean warming is not new in Southern California, but it’s getting worse.

The region has been hit with a series of marine heatwaves over the last decade. They generally recede during the winter, but the current one has lasted for over a year. Scientists say these ocean heatwaves are likely being worsened by human-caused climate change.

But there is some short-term hope on the horizon for humidity-haters.

One, Hurricane Genevieve is not expected to pull as much moisture into our region as other recent weather patterns. And two, forecasters expect drier air to flow in from the northwest, cutting down the humidity a bit, especially inland.

That may not reach people who live along the coast, however, where the higher ocean temperatures will help keep the coastal humidity elevated, especially at night.

Los Angeles-area eviction lawyer Dennis Block has agreed to one year of probation after the California State Bar Court found he violated a court order and engaged in other misconduct.

The decision came through a stipulation — similar to a settlement agreement with the court — in which Block admitted to charging clients improper fees, representing a landlord and their tenant at the same time, signing off on an error-filled court document a junior attorney in his firm generated using ChatGPT and failing to pay court-ordered sanctions for nearly three years.

LAist first reported on these disciplinary charges in January.

Block, who runs a firm that claims to have evicted hundreds of thousands of tenants, is expected to be placed on probation for one year. He will also be required to take classes on ethics and proper handling of client funds if the State Bar Court’s recommendation is approved by the California Supreme Court.

The State Bar Court recommended Block be suspended from practicing law for one year, but allowed the suspension be stayed as long as he complies with ethics rules and his probation conditions.

David Bramante is one of the clients who reported Block to the bar. He said he paid Block $17,000 up front to work on a court motion that needed to be taken care of quickly.

“The Ellis Act work I paid for never got done,” Bramante told LAist. “And when I terminated him, his office wouldn't give me a real accounting of where the money went.”

Bramante said it was only after many months and the State Bar’s investigation that Block’s firm refunded him the money.

Three legal ethics experts told LAist the disciplinary actions the bar recommended against Block are in line with similar cases they have seen in the past.

“This is a pretty serious sanction,” Scott Cummings, a UCLA law professor who teaches legal ethics, told LAist.

Cummings said suspension and disbarment are the two highest forms of discipline given by the bar.

Even though the suspension is being stayed in this case — because Block cooperated with State Bar investigators and has had a long career without disciplinary issues — Cummings said it seems like the bar is sending a message to Block and other attorneys that they need to treat their clients’ interests and money with the highest level of care.

Still, others think the court didn’t go far enough.

Richard Zitrin, an emeritus lecturer with UC Law San Francisco, called it a “slap on the wrist" considering the level of wrongdoing in the case.

“The failure to suspend Mr. Block is letting him get away with clearly unethical conduct that harms his clients,” Zitrin told LAist.

Other clients who were not involved with the bar’s investigation also claimed they had negative experiences with Block’s firm.

Xavier Jones said he hired Block’s firm for a few months in 2025. He told LAist there were no issues at first. Then, he said he saw Block’s attorneys start coming to court unprepared for his case. He said he also felt Block was overbilling him for the firm’s services.

Block would hang up on him when he asked legal questions or about how much he was being billed, Jones said. He said there were two times the firm’s lawyers came to court without having a copy of the tenants’ lease, which he says he sent them.

“I'm paying for this, for them to show up, for them to do their back-end work,” Jones said. “It's just unprofessional, it's embarrassing, and it's costing me a lot of money.”

Jones said he stopped working with Block in November. He said he had lost about $70,000 in unpaid rent, legal fees and other costs he believes could have been avoided with proper legal assistance.

LAist reached out to Block and his attorneys this week for comment, but did not receive a response. Last month, Erin Joyce — Block’s defense attorney — told LAist that the State Bar Court’s investigation into her client was “thorough” and found “no conduct by the firm involved moral turpitude,” which had been alleged in the original charges.

A year ago at this time, the streets of Los Angeles and other American cities were the sites of highly visible, large-scale immigration raids. While those scenes have died down, immigration enforcement remains more quietly active.

Federal data show Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more people in June, at 43,000, than in any month since January 2025. Locally, Los Angeles Police Department officials say June had the highest tally of potential unlawful conduct by federal immigration officers. The 12 incidents investigated mark the most since the department began reporting the data in March.

German Hurtado, LAPD immigration affairs liaison, said in an interview that he noticed the uptick of reported immigration enforcement incidents, but could not say what caused the increase.

In February, Mayor Karen Bass issued a directive requiring the reporting. Police commissioners approved the most recent report at their meeting Tuesday.

Hurtado said the increase seen in June might be reflective of the department’s efforts to capture more of the potential issues.

“We’re finding better ways to improve how to capture these incidents,” Hurtado said. “It could be a combination of everything, but I did see that it was a large increase.”

He said those efforts include changes in how they label calls related to federal immigration enforcement actions and adjustments to the way department computers store the information.

What’s in June’s report

Here’s how that process worked, according to the department’s report:

The LAPD first identified 45 potential federal immigration enforcement actions by searching internal reporting systems for immigration related search terms. The immigration affairs liaison determined 33 of those incidents were unrelated to immigration enforcement.

At the commission's meeting on Tuesday, Lisa Ridoutt, assistant inspector general, explained these incidents included:

• 26 notices from federal agents conducting surveillance in the area
• 2 reports of protests
• 2 medical related incidents
• 1 report of DHS agents executing a search warrant unrelated to immigration
• 1 federal task force meeting
• 1 call reporting someone believed they were pushed from behind by a federal agent. LAPD reviewed security footage and determined no crime had occurred.

The department then looked deeper into 12 enforcement incidents that qualify for reporting under Bass’ executive directive, which asks the LAPD to report when officers document or receive reports of suspected unlawful conduct by immigration officers. Two of those incidents involved an LAPD response in the field, according to the report. The department also says neither resulted in officers being on the scene for an active enforcement action.

The report states the LAPD does not know the overall number of immigration enforcement actions that happened in June.

The 12 reported incidents are a significant increase from previous months. The department reported just four incidents in May, four in April and none in March.

Hurtado said the number of incidents has increased every month since March, potentially because the department is getting better at documenting them.

“It takes a while to teach 8,700 people exactly what to do, so as we are rolling out different training, the officers are now being more observant of it, documenting it more," Hurtado said.

The increase, he added, could also stem from federal authorities communicating with LAPD more. He said federal immigration authorities have not asked LAPD for support during enforcement actions.

The backstory

For decades, the LAPD has refrained from directly enforcing immigration laws. That’s because policing experts say doing so could deter witnesses or victims from cooperating with law enforcement.

State and local laws have codified that policy in recent years and further prohibited California law enforcement from assisting in federal immigration enforcement.

The mayor issued two executive orders last year with instructions for how city departments interact with federal immigration officers.

Executive directive 17 mandates the monthly immigration reports from the LAPD and instructs officers to activate their body-worn cameras whenever they respond to potential immigration-related incidents.

Ridoutt, of the Office of Inspector General, said that while officers did activate body-worn and in-car video systems, the OIG found some recordings were not properly titled or tagged and that some videos or photos from community members were not uploaded to the department’s evidence database as required by department policy.

The Inspector General’s Office reviews the LAPD’s reports to ensure compliance with the directive. Ridoutt said the office will be releasing a more comprehensive report in October or November.

Calls for increased transparency

At previous meetings, commissioners have asked for more details about what calls for service or incident reports entail.

Hurtado said the executive directive just requires the department to release aggregate numbers.

Shiu-Ming Cheer, deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the directive calls for greater transparency than what the LAPD’s monthly reports currently provide.

The June report, for example, notes that LAPD twice dispatched officers in response to a report of ICE activity, but provides no description of the department’s role once officers arrived. Cheer said the public should know whether officers were responding for crowd control, interacting with federal agents or serving some other purpose.

Cheer said the LAPD’s monthly reports should explain what happened during the incidents the department counts.

Sophia Wrench, an attorney with Public Counsel, agrees.

“A central purpose of Executive Directive 17 was to provide increased transparency and build public trust, but LAPD’s reporting month after month falls short,” she said in a statement. “The lack of information in its monthly reports only creates more confusion in the community, building greater fear and mistrust of the police.”