Update on "Hollywood Hideaways"
 

New short-term rental regulations went into effect on July 1 in Los Angeles, and "enforcement" began on November 1st. Properties can be fined $500 per day/ per unit for non-compliance.
A current check of "Hollywood Hideaways" shows that they as of November 1 they are booking only stays of 30 days or more, which pretty much confirms that they were operating illegally over the summer when they were renting out units by the day.

You may remember a previous thread about this property, they had evicted many long-term tenants and upgraded the building in anticipation of running a profitable short-term-rental business. They requested a "waiver" from the city but it is either still pending or was denied.

The previous post is here: https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...ywood-1671200/

It will be interesting to see what the new L.A. City rules on STRs and the new state law on rent control and no-fault evictions does to the rental market.

Jean according to the city, 4500 rentals have been cleared/registered and they are receiving about 100 new applications per day. As warnings go out and fines are levied, they expect more hosts will register (if they are eligible) and have a rough estimate of maybe 7500 registrants by next summer. This compares to an estimated 20,000 rental units that were, at one time, listed as available via Airbnb, vrbo etc

Thanks. Hope the city keeps up on the enforcement...

Is the term "really cute" a code for "really CHEAP?"

That was my thread, which became quite contentious.
We rented there for 3 nights last summer. We had been unaware of any evictions, before reserving. I had inquired, and been assured by management that the property complied with all city regulations, so I booked it.

No, "really cute" is not code for "really cheap". Although it was more affordable than a larger hotel suite, I would not call it "cheap".
The property is outstanding-- beautifully kept and managed, well-located. I'm sorry to hear that it's illegal now, because we would have returned.
I just went to the site and put in a request for a 5 night stay-- no availability. But, when I put in 4 weeks' stay, then, yes there were units available.

Legal rentals are now supposed to list their business registration with the City on all online listings per the law. Since this property is not listing it, it confirms their permit has not yet been issued.

Thanks, Clark, for the update, and thanks, MoBro, for the further update.

It actually looks like the new registration is working, at least in my neighborhood on the Westside. Prior to enforcement, we had all sorts of short term rental business going on in my neighborhood, from unpermitted garage conversions to permitted detached accessory dwelling units ("ADU's" or "Granny Flats") being rented out. Now, neither of them can be the subject of a short term rental, with very few exceptions. One exception is if the permitted ADU is the "primary residence" of the owner (and the owner of the ADU, for example, rents out the main house). Of course, if the owner makes that claim just to get around the law, they could very well end up losing their property tax homeowner's exemption!

While I kind of feel bad for those who are retired or can't make ends meet on a single salary, and were using the ADU or garage conversation for extra income, I feel a little safer. Prior to this new ordinance, we had our neighbors across the street AirBnB their garage conversion to a young man that ultimate culminated in 6 police officers coming out at 3 a.m. one fine morning. An incident too drawn out to discuss, but had everyone in the neighborhood terrified!

Thanks for the update.

Surfergirl, that's scary!

ADUs are really a hotly debated topic in our older neighborhood. Many areas here have alleys, with stand-alone garages on them, and often the houses have driveways in front as well. So homeowners are looking to re-purpose their garages for living/work spaces to let.

Also, some of the historic three-story homes here would make lovely B&Bs, which are not permitted by zoning, but owners frequently request variances. There's one around the corner from us. After years of resisting a zoning change there, we and other neighbors were happy when it sold and was restored to its former glory as a private residence. Took a lot of bucks, though.

RE: Hollywood Hideaways, it seems like a lose/lose situation at this point. Unless I'm wrong, and there's a market for 30+ day rentals there.
Otherwise, the long-term tenants lost their homes, and short-term visitors like us lost a great place to stay. I wonder if the owners are happy with their decisions. Seems they might have made the wrong one. I don't know.

There is a third option. The owners can return to renting or leasing the apartments to long-term tenants, and the building's occupancy rate would be 100% every day of the year. There is a desperate demand for permanent housing.

Good point, Jean. Since DS lives so close, I'll be interested to see what happens there. It truly is a gorgeous, historic property, and I hope it's protected from bulldozers.

I hope that happens. I feel sorry for the tenants who were forced out.

We don't know the back story.

In our area, legal ADUs will not have a problem. We have an ongoing need of 30 day or longer rental customers because we live close to UCLA. There are students (undergrad and post grad, law school students, etc), adjunct and visiting faculty that may need housing for a quarter (3 months), and visiting summer students. In addition, a new Google campus is being built, and should be up and running in a couple of years with well paid employees looking for housing close to the job. AirBnB rentals in our area were going for about $100/night. So $3,000/month, assuming full time rental. A one bedroom ADU in our area runs about $2,500+/month. A Studio ADU about $2,000+. So, unless the unit is unpermitted, there's little incentive to avoid the regulations. Financially, it works much better to rent out on a month to month to someone you can prescreen.

Surfergirl, I always forget how expensive it is to live in LA. In Denver, you can lease a 3 bdrm/ 2 bath house with a garage for $2200/month, on a one year lease. I don’t know the rate for short-term rentals, or if there’s much of a market for them here.

There's a back story?

In Los Angeles, the "back story" inevitably involves new owners and/or developers who purchased rent controlled property and tenants who have lived in the property for years and years, not paying market rate (which, these days, is pretty egregious!)