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The Golden State’s global allure will be on full display as we host parts of the 2026 World Cup, back-to-back Super Bowls and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
These events will be an economic boon for the L.A. region, resulting in millions of dollars from “bed tax” revenue that hotels, motels and home-sharing services collect from tourists and pay cities and counties. During the Paris Olympics, the number of home-share rental listings increased 40% in the days leading up to the opening ceremony.
These sporting events can be a great opportunity for residents to make extra money by renting out their home or a spare room. But, at the same time, the city is already fighting a large swath of bad actors renting out party houses, scooping up rent-controlled apartments and evading paying local license fees and taxes. And short-term rental companies are refusing to share the information we need to crack down on these illegal rentals.
Estimates show that in Los Angeles County, nearly 72% of Airbnb listings — about 32,500 properties — are operating illegally. But without property data from the short-term rental companies, city officials have no systematic way of knowing that these rentals even exist. Our hands are tied in enforcing our own rules or cracking down on illegally operating rentals, leaving millions of tax dollars uncollected.
Lawmakers in Sacramento are considering a solution. SB 346, which needs final approval in the Assembly and the Senate and then the governor’s signature, would require short-term rental platforms to share information about properties that are listed on their websites. With this information, cities can go after illegal rentals and collect the correct amount of taxes owed to them.
SB 346 would greatly benefit residents of Los Angeles. Short-term rentals, which can be highly lucrative, have been regulated in the city since 2018. In a city that welcomes large numbers of tourists every year, the ordinance was designed to provide a pathway for residents to make some extra income from their primary homes. But by limiting the number of days any unit could be used through platforms like Airbnb and by limiting short-term rentals only to primary residences, the ordinance was also designed to limit the number of units that would be removed from the long-term rental housing market.
Despite the ordinance, the Los Angeles Housing Department estimates that 7,500 homes are currently operating illegally in the city, and the department needs many additional inspectors and administrators to find these unlicensed homes and enforce local laws. For a city grappling with a $1-billion deficit, it is maddening that we are being forced to spend precious resources tracking down information because most short-term rental companies refuse to share it proactively as businesses in other industries do.
I know this from direct experience: My council district, which runs through the Hollywood Hills and has major tourist destinations like the Hollywood sign, has been particularly affected. We have the highest volumes of both permitted and unpermitted home-sharing. Yet, the lack of information from short-term rental companies means that issuing citations to bad actors can take years.
As the state grapples with its own multibillion-dollar deficit, Sacramento lawmakers and the governor should celebrate the fact that SB 346 is a revenue-generating and cost-saving measure for every community in California. It would make it easier for cities to police bad actors without imposing additional burdens on hosts and facilitators who abide by the law and follow the rules.
Furthermore, in Los Angeles, these tax dollars help fund vital programs for residents that boost housing supply, reduce homelessness and improve infrastructure. These services are critical now more than ever, as we lift up and support the thousands of residents who lost their homes in the Eaton and Palisades fires.
And as the Trump administration and Congress slash Medicaid and gut food assistance programs and housing vouchers, and pull critical funding for wildfire prevention, Los Angeles and other cities throughout California are being forced to stretch already thin budgets just to keep essential services running. Our focus should be on capturing what is owed to the city, not hiring more staff to do the investigative work to find addresses and information that short-term rental companies already have.
Illegal rental operators are defying the business practices and local laws that other businesses in our communities must follow. SB 346 is a common-sense measure that will help local governments collect the millions in local taxes that illegal operators are shirking and fund the vital services that our residents rely upon.
Short-term rental operators are a business, and it’s time they started acting like it.
Nithya Raman represents District 4 on the Los Angeles City Council.
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Ideas expressed in the piece
Los Angeles is missing out on millions in tax revenue from illegal short-term rentals, with estimates showing nearly 72% of Airbnb listings in LA County operating illegally without paying required license fees and taxes[1][3]. The city’s Housing Department estimates 7,500 homes are currently operating illegally within city limits, representing a significant loss of revenue during a time when Los Angeles faces a $1-billion budget deficit.
Short-term rental platforms are refusing to share property data with city officials, making it nearly impossible to systematically identify and enforce regulations against illegal operators[3]. Without this information, the process of issuing citations to bad actors can take years, forcing the city to spend precious resources on investigative work that rental companies could provide.
SB 346 represents a common-sense solution that would require short-term rental platforms to share information about listed properties, enabling cities to collect correct tax amounts and crack down on illegal rentals without imposing additional burdens on law-abiding hosts. This legislation would be particularly beneficial as Los Angeles prepares to host major sporting events like the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, which historically drive significant increases in short-term rental activity.
The lost tax revenue is critically needed to fund vital city programs that boost housing supply, reduce homelessness, and improve infrastructure, especially as the city supports thousands of residents who lost homes in recent fires and faces potential federal funding cuts under the Trump administration.
Different views on the topic
Stricter enforcement of short-term rental regulations is driving hosts away from the market, with active home sharing registrations declining 6% from July 2024 to July 2025 and an estimated 44% drop in short-term rental listings across the LA metro area[3]. Many homeowners are abandoning short-term rentals entirely due to fears of fines and what they perceive as overly complex regulations, with one host describing the rules as “too much.”
The threat of substantial fines, which can reach up to $16,000 for larger properties, has made the short-term rental business too risky for many hosts, leading them to convert properties to mid-term or long-term rentals instead[3]. This regulatory pressure reduces the overall housing supply available to tourists and visitors, potentially limiting economic benefits from major upcoming events.
Budget constraints have already delayed implementation of the city’s enforcement plans, suggesting that the current regulatory framework may be more expensive and difficult to manage than anticipated[3]. The city has struggled to hire sufficient staff to monitor violations effectively, raising questions about whether additional data collection requirements would be practically enforceable.
During emergency situations, government officials have recognized the value of temporarily suspending short-term rental restrictions to increase housing options, as seen with Governor Newsom’s executive orders extending emergency protections and LA County’s suspension of certain STR limitations to help fire victims[2][4]. These actions demonstrate that overly restrictive regulations can sometimes hinder the city’s ability to respond flexibly to housing needs during crises.
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