VRMA Letter to City Council in support of STR's

1. Mike Copps
Executive Director
Vacation Rental Management Association
2025 M Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036 USA
+1 (202) 367-1237 | mcopps@vrma.org | vrma.org
May 30, 2017
Los Angeles City Council
200 N. Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Honorable Council Members:
The Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA) is a 32-year old international trade
association representing professional property managers of traditional short-term vacation
rentals. We support your efforts to legalize short-term rentals (STR) in your community.
However, best practices have demonstrated that restricting rentals to primary residences only is
difficult and costly to enforce and does not accomplish the goals you are trying to achieve.
We urge the Council to include professionally managed non-owner occupied homes to your
ordinance. Embracing property managers will help increase compliance with the law and the
collection of taxes.
We find that bans on second home rentals do not open these properties to convert to long-term
rentals or to be sold for permanent occupancy. In fact, these properties may sit vacant for long
portions of the year. Therefore, allowing secondary home rentals can assist in protecting the
character of the neighborhood. Managers and property owners work diligently to protect their
assets by scrutinizing potential renters and keeping up on the maintenance of the home.
Vacation rentals are often better maintained than long-term rental properties because of the
need for cleaning and upkeep between guests.
Across the country, communities develop STR regulations because of fears based on a host of
erroneous assumptions. Many of these communities come to realize that primary residency
requirements may alleviate fears but do not solve the problems that arise. Cities also come to
find out that their own rules are harder to enforce than they first realized. The uniform
enforcement of existing noise and safety ordinances are what actually protects residents.
U.S. Census Bureau show that only a small percentage of homes are used on a seasonal basis.
These second homes are used by individuals for many reasons, including work travel. These
individuals pay property taxes and contribute to Los Angeles’ economy.
We agree with the United States Conference of Mayors resolution which states that “onerous
regulations of short-term rentals can drive the industry underground, thus evading local
regulations and local hotel taxes”, and, “fair regulation of short-term rentals ensures greater
compliance and greater receipt of local hotel taxes”. Opening short-term renting to secondary

2. Mike Copps
Executive Director
Vacation Rental Management Association
2025 M Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036 USA
+1 (202) 367-1237 | mcopps@vrma.org | vrma.org
residences helps remove barriers that confuse property owners and provides parity with primary
residences.
Traditional short-term rentals, or vacation rentals, are a travel option around the world and the
positive impact of the activity affects communities everywhere. Our most recent study shows
that over 30% of travelers have used a private home accommodation in their travels. Los Angeles
should not exclude these individuals from its tourism economy.
States and communities across the country have seen the need to embrace short-term rentals,
both primary home rentals and non-owner occupied units. States like Arizona, Florida, and
Idaho, have worked to create a system to collect and remit lodging taxes and prevent the
degradation of property rights in local communities.
The VRMA urges the Los Angeles Council to amend the short-term rental proposal (Council file
14-1635-S2) to include non-owner occupied residences to equally participate in the local
accommodation marketplace and to remove the limitation of the number of days one can rent
out their primary residence. These amendments would fully embrace this growing sector of your
economy and bring in additional tax revenues to support affordable housing initiatives and other
desired programs.
Sincerely,
Mike Copps
Executive Director
Vacation Rental Management Association