Airbnb owners will be required to have a permit from police to operate in the city of Los Angeles starting on July 1.
The new law is intended to help the LAPD keep better track of Airbnbs that become party houses or attract crime. But the new law will also apply to small hotel operators in the city.
KNX News’ Craig Fiegener reported that the Northeast L.A. Hotel Owners Association wants the law’s implementation delayed. The association wants the ordinance rewritten to exclude small hotel operators because they claim it could potentially force them out of business if they have a delayed or denied permit.
“Let’s say a hotel had a noise violation with a guest that they called the police and they could easily say sorry, you got too many noise complaint calls at your hotel, we're not going to give you the police permit,” said the organization’s president, Ray Patel. “Then it has to be investigated, and without the police permit approval, we cannot apply for our business license.”
Patel said Airbnb operators are in an entirely different industry than hotels – they’re typically homeowners who rent out their homes and don't have hotel signs or parking lots.
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“Our council, our legislative body, needs to vet this further, put in the conditions to protect the public and the business community and they haven't done that and they need to do that,” Patel said.
L.A. Councilmember Paul Krekorian introduced a motion to delay the law’s rollout to January 2025, but the motion didn’t pass.
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