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Vacation Rental Units / Illegal Short Term Units / Ordinance

Council File 25-0029-S1

Under review — City Planning has laid out the roadmap for a new short-term rental program timed to the 2028 Olympics, but it still needs committee hearings and a City Council vote to move forward, and timing is tight to launch before the program expires at year-end 2028.

Introduced
2026-04-16
Last changed
2026-09-08
Status
open
Expires
2028-09-03
Committee
Budget and Finance Committee
Initiated by
Department of City Planning
References
Related Council File: 18-1246

Brief

The Department of City Planning, working with the Office of Finance, has submitted an ordinance proposal to address vacation rental units and illegal short-term rental activity in the city. The measure was referred to both the Budget and Finance Committee and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee in April 2026. The Planning Committee held the item in May, and it remains pending in both committees as of September 2026. Multiple neighborhood councils have submitted community impact statements expressing local concerns.

Full summary

This file tracks an effort to create a new, time-limited Vacation Rental Program for Los Angeles — a parallel track to the existing Home-Sharing Ordinance (HSO) that would allow owners of non-primary residences to rent them short-term. The program is explicitly designed around the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games as an anticipated demand driver, with a hard sunset date of December 31, 2028. It builds on a proposed 2020 Vacation Rental Ordinance (VRO) developed under the related Council File 18-1246, which expired in 2023 before being reactivated in 2025. The PLUM Committee directed City Planning in May 2026 to design the program around several firm guardrails: a citywide cap on active vacation rental permits equivalent to 1% of total housing units; a 250-foot separation requirement between vacation rental units in smaller residential buildings; an anti-speculation rule restricting eligibility to properties owned by the host on or before December 31, 2025; and a limit of one vacation rental permit per individual owner. Units subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, affordable housing covenants, or removed from the rental market via the Ellis Act within the past seven years would be ineligible. Hosts would also be limited to renting their vacation rental no more than 60 days per calendar year. City Planning's August 31, 2026 supplemental report — the key new development — lays out what would need to change from the 2020 VRO draft to meet the PLUM Committee's directives. Required modifications include adding the December 31, 2028 sunset date, the pre-2025 ownership requirement, stricter permit application documentation (photo ID and prior-year federal tax forms Schedule A or E), and a signed affidavit under penalty of perjury. The report also flags enforcement improvements being developed in parallel for the existing Home-Sharing Program, including an enhanced application portal, tighter residency verification, and data-sharing requirements tied to state law SB 346. City Planning estimates the full legislative process — public outreach, environmental review, Planning Commission hearings, and two Council readings — would take roughly six months if condensed from the typical 18-24 month timeline. That compressed schedule is necessary for the program to be operational before the 2028 sunset. The department cautions, however, that simpler eligibility criteria would speed implementation at the cost of weaker oversight, while more robust verification requirements would demand more time and infrastructure. The file remains pending in both the PLUM and Budget and Finance Committees, with no scheduled hearing date following the September 8, 2026 referral of the supplemental report.

Activity (10)

  • 2026-09-08 Department of City Planning document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
  • 2026-09-03 Document submitted by Department of City Planning, dated August 31, 2026.
  • 2026-08-20 Community Impact Statement submitted by Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council.
  • 2026-06-23 Community Impact Statement submitted by West LA - Sawtelle Neighborhood Council.
  • 2026-05-30 Community Impact Statement submitted by Northridge South Neighborhood Council.
  • 2026-05-12 Planning and Land Use Management Committee held the item in committee.
  • 2026-05-08 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on May 12, 2026.
  • 2026-04-16 Department of City Planning; Office of Finance document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
  • 2026-04-16 Document submitted by Department of City Planning; Office of Finance, dated April 15, 2026.
  • 2026-04-16 Document submitted by Department of City Planning; Office of Finance, dated April 2, 2026.

Documents (12)

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