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LA City Attorney sues Airbnb influencer who allegedly listed rent-controlled apartments illegally
The Airbnb company logo is displayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone.
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The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has filed a lawsuit against a man who describes himself on social media as an “Airbnb business coach” for allegedly renting out more than 30 properties illegally on vacation rental platforms.
The lawsuit claims Vladyslav Yurov and his alleged associates earned more than $4 million by listing properties they didn’t own on Airbnb in violation of local regulations.
“As renters battle a severe housing shortage and sky high rent, these defendants exacerbated our housing crisis,” City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said in a news release Wednesday announcing the lawsuit.
How L.A. regulates Airbnb listings
The city has had a home-sharing ordinance on the books since 2019. Under that law, hosts are:
- required to register with the city
- only allowed to rent out their primary residence
- barred from listing rent-controlled properties, which the city wants to reserve for long-term tenants who actually live in L.A.
The lawsuit alleges Yurov, Anastasiia Medvedeva and Mari Meladze Nagi used various business entities to rent properties from landlords and then illegally sublet those properties on short-term rental platforms including Airbnb.
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The properties listed in the complaint include rent-controlled apartments in Venice and other apartments near LAX and the Crypto.com arena.
The city claims the defendants used fake host names on Airbnb and falsely advertised that properties were located outside the city of L.A., in places like West Hollywood and Culver City. Officials say the defendants violated the law because they didn’t live in any of these properties, and at least 10 of the units were covered by the city’s rent control protections.
How to make money “using other people’s properties”
A portion of a post from the @vladbnb Instagram account promises to guide investors to earn profits on Airbnb "with properties they don't even own." Vladyslav Yurov responded to an LAist inquiry through the account saying his “legitimate business was no longer welcome in the city of Los Angeles and it was closed.”
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LAist reached out to Yurov through his Instagram account, where he replied that his “legitimate business was no longer welcome in the city of Los Angeles and it was closed. So it’s not operating anymore.” He declined to comment further.
Through his various social media accounts, Yurov promoted himself as an entrepreneurship guru teaching followers how to hustle to their first $1 million through Airbnb. His Instagram account (@vladbnb) openly stated that he did not personally own the properties he rented out.
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“Give me a follow if you want to learn how to make money on Airbnb using other people’s properties,” Yurov said in one post.
In other posts he gave his 10,000-plus followers tips on copying his business model, and offered general advice such as, “You don’t get rich because your money chakra is blocked.”
Housing advocates say enforcement has been anemic
Previous research has found that vacation rental law-breaking in L.A. is fairly common. For one study in 2022, a McGill University urban planning professor estimated that nearly half of all Airbnb and Vrbo listings in the city of L.A. were likely illegal.
Randy Renick is the executive director of the group Better Neighbors L.A., which advocates for tougher crackdowns on illegal activity.
“The city has not taken enforcement seriously,” Renick told LAist. “As a result, unscrupulous hosts — like Yurov here — are fearless. And they think there are no risks to taking rent-controlled properties and illegally renting them out for profit.”
Renick said this lawsuit is a step in the right direction, but the city needs further action to deter other hosts.
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This isn’t the first time the city has taken on vacation rental violations. L.A.’s previous city attorney, Mike Feuer, got the platform Vrbo to pay penalties and step up compliance as part of an earlier settlement. And the current city attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, filed a lawsuit last year against an alleged party house operator based in Beverly Hills.
Who was allegedly harmed?
The city’s lawsuit identifies many alleged victims. Guests were allegedly deceived about the location of their rentals. In one case a family allegedly booked a rental they thought was in Burbank, but later found it was actually in a part of North Hollywood where they felt unsafe.
In some cases, the lawsuit claims landlords did not give consent to have their properties rented out on Airbnb.
The city attorney’s lawsuit seeks up to $15 million in civil penalties.
Housing advocates say illegal vacation rentals also harm L.A. residents by lowering the stock of housing available to buy or rent and driving up the price of the city’s remaining options. The 2022 McGill University study estimated that illegal short-term rentals have increased rents for the average L.A. tenant household by about $800 per year.
LAist reached out to Airbnb to ask what action the company took in response to these particular listings, but has not yet received a response.
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