By Iris Craige 

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Airbnb’s Vacation Rental Ordinance expansion effort has started to look more like a zombie policy proposal: never fully passing, never fully dying, continuing to lurch itself around City Hall week after week.

Unfortunately, the company has more than enough money to keep reanimating the corpse via their Save our Services coalition.

Which is why, earlier this month, housing advocates and community members again mobilized against attempts to advance short-term rental (STR) expansion through the city’s budget process, packing Budget and Finance Committee hearings in City Hall for multiple days in a row. That provision was ultimately removed from the budget, but the issue reared its head again on May 12 at the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee, when council considered new pathways to expand Airbnb.

But rather than killing the issue once and for all, PLUM directed city departments to draft additional reportbacks and recommendations, which will take months to complete. Council Member Heather Hutt (CD10) asked for a reportback on the feasibility of a limited Vacation Rental Program tied to upcoming mega events including the 2028 Summer Olympics. City departments were also asked to evaluate:

• A citywide cap on STRs equivalent to 1% of Los Angeles’ housing supply;
• Spacing requirements between vacation rentals;
• Stronger permit verification requirements;
• Restrictions on rent-stabilized and income-restricted units; and
• Additional enforcement and data-sharing mechanisms.

These lines of inquiry appear intended to quell concerns about the fact that relaxing STR regulations will exacerbate our housing affordability crisis and raise rents. But there is one core issue they do not address: the city has been unable to enforce guardrails already in place to crack down on illegal STRs. 

While we wait indefinitely for all the reportbacks, it’s time for a real conversation about how we can strengthen STR enforcement in Los Angeles.