Advice on Pursuing Arbitration or Small Claims - chances of success? TOCs shouldn't apply to me

[Nikeeta1]

I own a property that is currently leased to a tenant. The lease explicitly states subleases and short term rentals are not allowed. I have found out that my property has been listed on Airbnb and has >100 reviews. The host has a different name than my tenant. I have contacted Airbnb Customer Service and said that these listings are unlawful and need to be taken down and associated bookings cancelled.  I was told that my only course of action would be to go through Airbnb’s formal Host notification process. This has not been sufficient, as the host simply removed a listing and then posted an almost identical new one.

Per the Los Angeles Home Sharing Ordinance, short-term rentals must be registered, which would require my authorization. I have never given authorization. And LA requires that listings display a registration code. The host who is listing my properties has not listed a code. The ordinance also states that the Hosting Platform (Airbnb) has a responsibility to verify registration numbers and can't allow bookings without them. There are hefty fines associated with non-compliance. 

I would like to pursue arbitration against Airbnb for failure to comply and damages to cover legal fees as I will need to pursue charges against this host (I don't even know who this guy is and my tenant). They have not helped me get these listing removed and failed to comply with local laws. This also potentially exposes me to numerous risks as the property owner.

Thoughts? 

LA Ordinance (pg 10-12) relevant:

http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14-1635-S2_ORD_185931_07-01-19.pdf

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Nikeeta1 You will need legal advice but I don't think you, as an individual, have a right to enforce an ordinance. This is strictly the role of Los Angeles. I guess you could file a suit against LA for not enforcing an ordinance but this feels rather expensive and I suspect they have it covered in some way.

What you can and should be doing is terminating the lease and evicting your tenant. I doubt the property is even insured at present.

[Bronwyn100]

Don’t know anything about USA law but here your tenant has breached the lease and you simply throw them out. Good luck. Remember Airbnb are getting commission. 

[Helen3]

What did the tenant say when you spoke to them about this? @Nikeeta1 

I agree that you should be evicting the tenant. 

It should be your tenant that you should sue for any fines etc 

[Rebecca]

Hi @Nikeeta1, 

How did you get on, or what are you deciding to do? It would be great to hear from you! 

[Alex1485]

Very startling to find tenant is actively breaking your lease terms.

It may be in your best interest, to offer the tenant “keys to leave” which is a flat fee for Immediate return of keys, for $8-10k the problem is immediately resolved, no fight, no extended lease, and most likely no damages to property. .

In terms of arbitration vs. airbnb,  perhaps the attorney you’ve hired to help resolve tenant issues would be best suited to answer this question, as @Mike-And-Jane0 mentioned.