Los Angeles, CA

When deciding whether to become an Airbnb host, it's important for you to understand the laws in your city. As a platform and marketplace we do not provide legal advice, but we want to provide some useful links that may help you better understand laws and regulations in Los Angeles. This list is not exhaustive, but it should give you a good start in understanding your local laws. We’ll continue to update this information as more becomes available. If you have questions, contact the Department of City Planning or other city agencies directly, or consult a local lawyer or tax professional.

• Short-term rental regulations
• Renewing your registration
• Night limits for hosting
• Registration data-sharing
• Taxes
• Other contracts and rules
• Our commitment to your community

Short-term rental regulations

Based on Home Sharing Ordinance (CF 14-1635-S2), home sharing is permitted in Los Angeles if your listing is your primary residence. Hosts are required to register with the city and post their permit number on their listing, or claim a valid reason for exemption, in order to comply with the ordinance.

Listings without a permit number or exemption posted will be blocked from hosting short-term stays (less than 30 nights at a time) in Los Angeles.

You can learn more about what’s required for your listing in the sections below.

• You host your primary residence - entire home or private room
• You host multiple private rooms in your primary residence
• You host a secondary residence, like a second home or vacation home
• You host as a renter or lessee
• You operate a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or transient occupancy residential structure
• You exclusively host stays of 30 or more nights
• You host in a building/address that is subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance

For additional questions about what’s required to host in Los Angeles, visit the Department of City Planning’s Home-Sharing FAQ page.

You host your primary residence - entire home or private room

If you host your primary residence, you’ll need to register your listing with the City of Los Angeles. You can do this on the city’s website or in person at the Los Angeles Planning Department.

To register, you’ll need to provide the following:

• Photo identification (ID): A valid federal or state-issued photo ID such as a driver's license, state ID card, or passport.
• Documentation of primary residence: Two of the following documents must be provided, unless the address on the photo ID matches the location of your listing, in which case you’ll only need one of the following. The documents must include your name and the address of your listing.
  • A current valid California voter's registration card or voter registration status
  • A current valid California vehicle registration certificate
  • A recent health insurance bill
  • A recent vehicle insurance bill
  • A copy of a paycheck or pay stub issued in the last six months
  • A copy of a current property tax bill indicating homeowner's exemption
  • A copy of a current rental or lease agreement, including the property manager's or landlord's contact information and signature
• Landlord approval: If you rent or lease your unit, you’ll need to submit a signed and notarized affidavit that approves your participation in home-sharing for that unit.

When the application is approved, the city will notify you via email that the number is verified and you may continue using the same number. If your submission requires additional review, the city will reach out to let you know.

Home-sharing for more than 120 nights

If you plan to host your primary residence for more than 120 days per calendar year, you’ll need to apply for extended home-sharing. Extended home-sharing registration is a 4-step process:

1. Apply for regular home-sharing: You’ll need your home-sharing registration number in order to apply for extended home-sharing. Your home-sharing registration will be checked to confirm extended home-sharing eligibility. You will receive an email at the email address associated with your registration containing a secure link to continue to step 2.
2. Data validation and upload of proof of number of days hosted (if required): You will have an opportunity to update certain registration details and upload proof of hosting for 60 days (if required). You will receive an email confirming your registration.
3. Neighborhood notification: The city will review your registration and if you qualify, you will be emailed a mailing notification and mailing labels. You will be required to mail the notification using the city's contractor. Details on how to complete this step are available on the city’s site. Note that you will only have to complete this step after your application is approved.
4. Upload proof of mailing and pay registration fee: You will return to the portal using a secure link to upload the proof of mailing and pay the extended home-sharing registration fee of $850.

Renewing your registration

Your registration is valid for one year from the date that your pending permit number was issued and must be renewed annually. You’ll receive an email reminder from the city 30 days before your current registration expires.

You host multiple private rooms in your primary residence

You’ll need to complete the same registration process outlined above, and only need one permit number. You can use the same permit number on each of your listings if there are multiple rooms in one primary residence–just make sure to add the number to each of your listings to comply.

According to the ordinance, only one listing at the same property can be booked at a time. This means that you can still host multiple private rooms in your home, but can only accept one booking at a time. Two separate private rooms may not be booked during the same time period.

You host a secondary residence, like a second home or vacation home

Second homes and vacation rentals are not eligible to apply for home-sharing. If you’d like to continue receiving bookings, you can switch to long-term stays (30 or more nights), which don’t require a permit number in Los Angeles. You can update this in your availability settings.

Airbnb continues to advocate for reasonable regulations that address short-term rentals in non-primary residences, and as a result, the city has taken the first steps of drafting an ordinance that would regulate second homes and vacation rentals. We’ll update hosts as soon as more information is available.

You host as a renter or lessee

If you’re a renter or lessee, you must have written approval from your landlord to host. This written approval will need to be notarized and submitted as part of the home-sharing application.

You operate a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or transient occupancy residential structure

If you host a hotel, motel, transient occupancy residential structure, or bed and breakfast, your listing is exempt from registration, but you’ll still need to claim an exemption through Airbnb to comply. This is free of cost.

You exclusively host stays of 30 or more nights

If you only accept bookings for 30 or more nights at a time, you are not required to register your listing or take any action on Airbnb. If you’d like to switch to long-term stays, you can update this in your availability settings.

You host in a building/address that is subject to the City's Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO)

If your building is subject to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), it’s not eligible for home sharing. Temporary exemptions such as for owner-occupancy do not relieve a residence from being a rental unit subject to the provisions of the RSO. For information on whether your property is subject to the RSO, you can search for your address in ZIMAS and check under the “Housing” tab. If you believe your property is mistakenly identified as being subject to any housing restrictions, you can decide to proceed with your application by paying the application fee and providing a written explanation, along with any supporting documentation, that outlines why the city’s information may be incorrect and the registration requirements are met.

Renewing your registration

Your registration is valid for one year from the date that your pending permit number was issued and must be renewed annually. You’ll receive an email reminder from the city 30 days before your current registration expires. For listings that exclusively list on Airbnb, a listing will not need to share its home-sharing records with the City in order to renew its home-sharing permit.

Night limits for hosting

Local laws in Los Angeles require that you only host guests in your place for a maximum of 120 nights per calendar year, unless you’ve received an extended home-sharing permit. If you use the same registration number for multiple listings, like an entire home and a private room at the same address, you can only host guests for a maximum of 120 nights across both listings

All nights booked for a listing after a valid Home-Sharing Registration Number or Pending Number has been issued (whichever is earlier) in a calendar year count towards the 120 night limit. Once you reach your city's 120 night limit, you won’t be able to accept short-term reservations for the rest of the calendar year.

If you plan to host your primary residence for more than 120 days per calendar year, you’ll need to apply for extended home-sharing. Extended home-sharing registration is a 4-step process:

1. Apply for regular home-sharing: You’ll need your home-sharing registration number in order to apply for extended home-sharing. Your home-sharing registration will be checked to confirm extended home-sharing eligibility. You will receive an email at the email address associated with your registration containing a secure link to continue to step 2.
2. Data validation and upload of proof of number of days hosted (if required): You will have an opportunity to update certain registration details and upload proof of hosting for 60 days (if required). You will receive an email confirming your registration.
3. Neighborhood notification: The city will review your registration and if you qualify, you will be emailed a mailing notification and mailing labels. You will be required to mail the notification using the city's contractor. Details on how to complete this step are available on the city’s site. Note that you will only have to complete this step after your application is approved.
4. Upload proof of mailing and pay registration fee: You will return to the portal using a secure link to upload the proof of mailing and pay the extended home-sharing registration fee of $850.

Registration data-sharing

Airbnb is required to share some short-term rental listing information in order to comply with the City’s Home-Sharing Ordinance. The information shared can only be used to make sure your listing is in compliance with the Home-Sharing Ordinance, and will not be shared with any other government agencies.

Does Airbnb’s obligation to share data apply to my listing?

The obligation to share data only refers to listings that register or claim an exemption under the City’s Home-Sharing Ordinance.

No data will be shared regarding the following accommodations:

• Listings that exclusively host stays of 30 nights or more.

What data will Airbnb share with the City of Los Angeles?

Airbnb will share the following data on listings that provide home-sharing registration number:

• Listing ID
• The Listing URL(s)
• Registration Number
• The house number of the address only, not the full street address (e.g., only the 100 of 100 Main St.)
• The apartment/suite/unit number of the address
• The total number of nights the rental unit has already been rented as a Short-Term Rental through Airbnb in the calendar year
• The total number of nights the rental unit has been booked for Short-Term Rental stays through Airbnb for the remainder of the calendar year;

Airbnb will share the following data on listings that claim an exemption:

• Listing ID
• The Listing URL(s)
• Exemption code as a hotel/motel, bed & breakfast, or transient occupancy residential structure
• The Unique Host ID
• The Host Email Address
• The Listing’s Street Address (full)
• No booking data

Airbnb will share the following data on listings that exclusively host long-term stays (30+ nights or more):

• Listing ID
• The Listing URL(s)
• Exemption code identifying the listing as one that exclusively hosts long-term stays

Airbnb will not share any data related to earnings, taxes, specific reservation details, or guests.

Is this a one time request, or is it a continuing reporting obligation?

The obligation to report data to the City of Los Angeles is a continuing one.

Taxes

The City of Los Angeles imposes a 14% transient occupancy tax on the listing price (including cleaning fees) for stays of 30 nights or less. Airbnb collects and remits the City transient occupancy tax. However, hosts are still required to file monthly returns to the Office of Finance, and should take a deduction for tax collected and remitted by Airbnb (and any other applicable platform). For more information about the City's transient occupancy tax, visit the City's FAQ page. In addition, Los Angeles County applies a transient occupancy tax on any unincorporated areas within the county, which applies to broad categories of transient use. “Transient use” is defined as a guest stays of 30 days or less. Airbnb currently does not collect the County transient occupancy tax. More information about the County transient occupancy tax is available at the County's FAQ page.

Other contracts and rules

As a host, you need to understand and abide by other contracts or rules that bind you, including leases, co-op rules, HOA rules, or other rules established by tenant organizations. You should be able to find out more by contacting your housing authority (such as a community council) or landlord. Your lease (or other contract) might also have specific details.

Our commitment to your community

We are committed to working with local officials to help them understand how Airbnb benefits our community. Where needed, we will continue to advocate for changes that will allow regular people to rent out their own homes.