Assemblymember Matt Harper -- an Orange County Republican -- has introduced AB1220, a California bill that would prohibit any city in California from collecting taxes on short term residential rentals.
Airbnb and similar web companies are fueling the explosion in short term rentals. Landlords rent units for less than 30 days to tourists instead of long term renters.
A new study from the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy suggests that in the metro Los Angeles area alone, more than 7,000 units have been removed from the rental market to be used as short term rentals for tourists and business travelers. The result? Fewer people have permanent housing and rents are rising even more.
In some California cities, there are laws against converting scarce housing resources to tourist use. Using political influence, Airbnb has engaged in a systematic campaign to dismantle those laws and avoid paying any taxes to offset their impact. Now, they are taking their lobbying efforts to the state level, and a new bill -- AB 1220 -- has been proposed that would make Airbnb rentals exempt from local taxes.
It’s bad enough cities are losing valuable rental housing stock. The least AirBnB and other short term rental corporations can do is pay their fair share.
Add your name to this petition to send a message to California legislators to stop this special interest giveaway: http://www.tenantaction.org/...
Democrats control the legislature, but history shows they will quietly pander to special interests like Airbnb unless we expose this. The bill could be heard any day by the Assembly Committee on Local Government. Please take action today.