PLUM requires platforms to share data with city, pauses broader vacation‑rental changes

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee on Tuesday voted 5‑0 to instruct the city attorney to draft an ordinance requiring all short‑term rental platforms to enter platform agreements with the City of Los Angeles and to use the city’s API for standard data sharing.

The action — approved as an immediate enforcement step — came after more than an hour of public comment in which business groups and unions urged a regulated program to capture transient‑occupancy taxes, while housing and tenant advocates warned that expanding vacation rentals would remove long‑term housing and worsen displacement.

Why it matters: Committee members said platform data and automated reporting are essential to any credible enforcement regime. City Planning staff recommended further work on a fee study, staffing and CEQA review before the council considers a permanent vacation‑rental program; the committee agreed to continue the broader policy while moving forward on data sharing.

Committee members and staff said the platform requirement is the most enforceable near‑term step. “That is the most important thing we can do right away to get enforcement,” the chair said during debate, summarizing a thread of concern about weak compliance that has hampered enforcement under the existing Home‑Sharing Ordinance.

City attorneys presented draft language for a separate private right of action modeled in part on qui‑tam approaches, including a proposed 1,000‑foot standing radius and notice‑and‑cure windows. Deputy city attorney Ernest Velasquez said the draft was a starting point and that it gave the city a first opportunity to pursue enforcement. Several council members said the draft needed work, including stronger penalties and clearer incentives for public enforcement.

Public comment was sharply divided. Rich Ramirez, vice president of Local 112 and a Los Angeles firefighter‑paramedic, urged approval of new revenue tools to support public safety and said visitors generate TOT revenue that helps fund firefighters and other city services. “Restrictive policies are leaving tens of millions of dollars of potential tax revenue on the table,” Ramirez said.

Opponents, including Unite Here and housing advocates, argued that expanding the short‑term market would hollow neighborhoods out of long‑term residents. Diana Rios of Unite Here Local 11 said enforcement of the existing law should be the priority: “If the city enforces fines against just 5% of illegal short‑term rentals, it would bring in over $42 million a year,” she said.

Office of Finance staff later told the committee that, under conservative scenarios tied to the size of the current market, a reinstated program could yield on the order of $25–$30 million annually in TOT — though staff stressed the estimate is uncertain and depends on participation and program design.

What the committee decided: Members voted unanimously to send an instruction to the city attorney to draft an ordinance requiring platform agreements and API data sharing. The committee also directed multiple report‑backs — including a fee study and administrative recommendations on enforcement location and staffing — and left the broader vacation‑rental ordinance (including standing, penalties and program scope) in committee for further work.

What’s next: City Planning and the CAO will return with the fee study and staffing recommendations; the city attorney will begin drafting the platform‑agreement ordinance. Committee members emphasized that the platform requirement should proceed immediately while other elements are refined.