LA Listing with valid Extended Home Sharing Registration Certificate - still blocked by Airbnb for short term rental...

[Silvia1252]

I am a host of an LA based Plus Listing. Wanted to share this issue with other hosts and see if anyone else had the same problem and if got any support from Airbnb team or managed to find a solution.  

As of August 26th our listing is blocked for short term rental on Airbnb Platform (after getting an automated email saying " Your place has been booked for 473 nights in 2020 [...]".)

?!?!?!

How is that possible, having only 365 nights in a year...

For over two months we were  unable to rent short term, even though we have a confirmed Registration Certificate for Extended Home Sharing, (that we applied for and paid for months in advance) and received all the confirmation/documents from LA City, saying that the house can be rented for an unlimited number of nights per year.

I spent hours talking on the phone/chat/emails with different people from Airbnb team, they keep saying that YES we are allowed to rent our property short term, but they cannot understand why the property is blocked and will send the issue to technical support. 

Its very disappointing that in over TWO months no-one got back to us with any explanation/solution or help to solve the problem.

I even emailed personally LA City department  and got a replay that they checked and everything looks good on their side, so it's definitely an Airbnb issue.

There is a big income loss because of this issue, and seems like Airbnb doe Not care anymore about their hosts. We did not receive any help from Airbnb during Covid, even with a Superhost and Plus status. 

And now this issues blocking our listing for several months, while having all documents approved to be able to rent it..  makes us think to take down our listing from Airbnb Platform altogether. 

Who will step up and tale responsibility/refund all the loss of income @Catherine-Powell   @Airbnb  ?

Please share your experience if you are dealing with similar problem and if your listing was blocked/unblocked for Extended Home Sharing?!

[Eric4770]

Has this issue been resolved? I was just notified I've reached the 120 night limit after only 4 months and am concerned about 2021 seeing as I've already booked over 110 nights through only May.  Any advice?

[Gabriela1031]

HELLO!!

i am having the same problem , can you please let me know how to fix this??

did you have any success??

thank you for your HELP

[Josh1262]

Gabriela,

I too am experiencing this issue. I am at 119 of 120 and I do not want to be blocked. When you hit the 120 day mark did they completely block your listing or did you have a buffer period? What insight do you have on the matter?

Thank you!!!

[Russell299]

I am having the same issue. I have a current Extended Home-Sharing Certificate from the City of Los Angeles, which defines "Extended Home-Sharing" as "Home-Sharing that is permitted for an unlimited number of days in a calendar year." I've only booked 213 nights in 2022, but Airbnb is blocking further bookings, claiming I have reached my limit. They also are giving me a calculation of booked nights that is wrong. I asked Airbnb support to look at my calendar, but they keep giving me the wrong number, and I can't get anyone to explain how I have reached my limit, when the City of Los Angeles is allowing me an "unlimited number" of bookings per "calendar year." If I cannot get Airbnb to correct the error, I will have to quit Airbnb and maybe even sell my home, because I rely on the Airbnb income to pay my mortgage. Can anyone help?

[Julien918]

hi I am having a problem to extent my short therm from the city my application is pending they need a PDF spreadsheet yearly income with dates Ext,,, which I e maid them in multiple time still no answer fro the city it has been over 2 month  

any suggestions

 greatly appreciate 

julien

[Danielle513]

Did you ever get this resolved, Julien?

[Danielle513]

Hi @Julien918  -

I'm having difficulties again this year.  It's ridiculous!  Did you get your problem resolved finally?

Thanks!

Danielle

[William1985]

Hi @Russell299 ,

I wanted to find out how long it took to get the Extended Home-Sharing Permit from the Los Angeles Home-Sharing?

Thanks,

William

[Sarah5325]

@William1985 Did you ever find this out? Curious how to do this and what the fee is?

[Danielle513]

Hi William and @Russell299 - I'm currently in the same nightmare loop with LA  City Planning.  I'm at the end of my Home-sharing limit and I'm trying to apply for Extended Home Sharing but the links provided by the city don't work.  I've sent 20-30 emails to the email address they provided and all I receive back is a boilerplate reply with the same useless info and inactive link.  LA is making $$ off of our rentals in the way of taxes, and I'm fine with that, but surely they can afford to hire employees to help manage permits for Air Bnb hosts. This is the 2nd year in a row I've had an issue.  Any input or general thoughts welcomed.  Thank you! Danielle

[Dino58]

I have encountered nightmare experiences countless times and for each and every year of the approximately six years I have been hosting guests with the City of Los Angeles City Planning Department Home Sharing Division.  At first I felt that this was an isolated incident but after no fewer than 20+ phone calls and messages, daily emails for over one month and actually showing up at their offices in Downtown Los Angeles (where you will not be allowed into the building without an appointment) - just another dead end. I was actually ready to walk into the Mayor's office for relief and answers being that I was totally and completely at my wits end.  The City of Los Angeles simply does not care one bit about providing quality service to its stakeholder property owners, tax paying, revenue generating citizens.  They are instead preoccupied and focused on our homeless population who are but a total and complete drain on our City resources and a plight to our city streets.  To them the City grants everything possible and without delay as if money were no issue at all.  We on the other hand foot the bill. To us who are trying to make a decent living with our beautiful properties and who are in complete compliance with their established rules and guidelines, policies and procedures are treated like absolute garbage, totally ignored and discarded as if our issues and questions mean nothing to them with a level of service so very poor that I have never before experienced in my lifetime.  This holds true even when the mistake is 100% their own. It is totally and completely unacceptable by any standard.  Again, this year on July 1,  I applied online to renew my extended home-sharing license for the coming year which expired on September 21 per their prompt via email and to this very day, October 23, after 10-15 phone calls and messages and 5-10 emails thus far I have not received my renewal AND I have not had a single representative from the City show me the decency of a return call or message to explain the delay and what they are doing about it.  I have been and continue to be a dedicated and focused host with nearly all 5 star reviews and I have had zero violations over the course of the past 5 years since the inception of this program yet still I go thru the renewal process of my license with absolute dread and a total and complete nervous wreck at the hands of a City that simply could care less.  Note, that they will, however, block your ability to book any business in the most timely of manners and with extreme precision should you lapse in any way. 

Try then getting any assistance or guidance from the Airbnb side of things and you will find almost exactly the same level of commitment from them.  You will be transferred from one agent to another until you are totally and completed exasperated.  They will not share any meaningful information with you, not discuss any reason for a decision that may have negatively affected you, suffer under a false and misleading accusation by a guest seeking undue compensation and such and they act with no regard or sense of urgency to bring about a fair and just solution.  I have had my accounts frozen for weeks and weeks with NO explanation or communication from Airbnb at all only to awaken one morning and find everything back to normal as if it had never happened.   I absolutely dread any moment where I know I am going to need support from either the City of Los Angeles or the Airbnb platform.  Neither of these entities takes even the first step towards providing for us anywhere near the level of service we provide for our guests, the attention and care we place on our neighborhoods or for our neighbors.  They hold us to a higher standard then they even come close to attaining themselves and that is a very hard pill to swallow.  After all I have just offered I wish I could give some wise and helpful advice on how to deal with these entities in order to bring about solution and a better host experience but, unfortunately, my personal and professional interactions with both have given me none. I have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely nothing we, the lifeblood of their organizations, can do to fix this very broken, unfair and heartless system.  If anyone can offer advice I am always extremely grateful and my ear is always open.  

Take care all of you and keep up the good fight.  Our guests are counting on us!

Dino Baglioni

Los Angeles, CA

[Elinor26]

Did you ever get through to the city? How did you resolve this issue?

[Alix-And-Johnny0]

Hi!  did you ever get this resolved?

I am in the same boat now.  Valid Extended Home Sharing certificate.   Still have at least 25 days unbooked this year and I"m being told I only have 3 nights left before calendar gets blocked.   Airbnb is telling me that los angeles extended home sharing doesn't mean I get 365 days per year.  They're telling me there is a limit but they can't tell me what that limit is because it is a secret limit but it is automated and therefore there is nothing they can do.  I paid my fee for the permit in June.  I'm so steamed up about this!!!

[Kyle889]

Hello. I am currently experiencing this. I have an active Home Sharing Permit and number issued by the city. I have been getting the runaround for months. I invested THOUSANDS into this under the pretense I could be able to host it on AirBnb. I have suffered a massive financial loss and there seems to be nobody accountable. Is there a way for all of us to lawyer up and file a class action suit?